Morgan Stanley Third-Quarter Profit Almost Doubles

NEW YORK (AP) — Investment bank Morgan Stanley says that its third-quarter earnings almost doubled as the firm's securities unit returned to a profit.

The bank earned $1.01 billion from July to September after stripping out an accounting charge. That compares with earnings of $560 million a year earlier.

The profit works out to 50 cents a share before the charge, compared with 28 cents a share in the same period a year earlier. Financial analysts polled by data provider FactSet predicted earnings of 40 cents. Analysts generally strip out one-time items.

Revenue totaled $8.1 billion, up 6.5 percent from last year's total of $7.6 billion.

The bank's stock rose 77 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $29.70 in pre-market trading

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