Merrill Lynch Reports Record EPS and Net Earnings for Fourth Quarter

Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) today reported record net earnings per diluted share for 2005 of $5.27, up 20 percent from $4.38 per share for 2004. Net earnings of $5.2 billion also set a record, up 18 percent from $4.4 billion in the prior year, despite an over five percentage point increase in the effective tax rate. Record pretax earnings of $7.4 billion increased 27 percent from 2004, on net revenues that grew 18 percent, to $26.0 billion, within 1 percent of the full-year revenue record the firm set in 2000. The 2005 pretax profit margin was a record 28.5 percent, up two percentage points from 2004, and the return on average common equity was 16.3 percent, up 1.4 percentage points. Book value per share ended 2005 at $35.98, 9 percent higher than at the end of 2004. All three of the firm's business segments contributed to these results, each generating record pretax earnings and higher net revenues than in 2004.


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posted by srikanth....july9