Merrill Lynch & Co. reported a 10.3% jump in second-quarter profits today strong performances from its private client and investment management businesses partly offset lower earnings in overseas and investment banking units.

The Wall Street brokerage earned US$1.08 billion, or US$1.06 per share, in the three months ending June 25, up from US$977 million, or $US1 per share, in the same period one year ago.

Analysts polled had expecting earnings of US$1.09 per share.

Total revenue was nearly flat at US$5.3 billion, up 0.6%.

For the first half of the year, Merrill earned US$2.33 billion, or US$2.27 per share, up nearly 44% from US$1.62 billion, or US$1.68 per share, in the same period one year ago.

Also today, the board of directors approved the repurchase of an additional $2 billion of the company’s outstanding common shares.