Morgan Stanley reported record income from continuing operations for the first quarter ended February 28, of US$2.6 billion, an increase of 60% from the first quarter of 2006.

Net revenues were a record US$11.0 billion, 29% above last year’s first quarter. Non-interest expenses of US$7.1 billion increased 17% from last year. The annualized return on average common equity from continuing operations was 28.8% in the current quarter, compared with 21.9% in the first quarter of 2006.

Net income was a record US$2.67 billion, an increase of 70% from the first quarter of 2006. This quarter’s
results included an after-tax gain of US$109 million reported in discontinued operations related to the sale of Quilter Holdings Ltd.

Institutional Securities achieved record net revenues of US$7.6 billion, up 37% from last year. Pre-tax income rose 71% to a record US$3.0 billion and return on average common equity was 40%.

Equity sales and trading delivered record revenues of US$2.2 billion, up 36% from last year. These results reflect record revenues in derivatives and prime brokerage, two key areas that the company has invested in as part of its growth plans.

Fixed income sales and trading achieved record revenues of US$3.6 billion, up 31% from last year. These results reflect record revenues in credit products, up 94%, and strength across the interest rate & currency and commodities businesses.

The Global Wealth Management Group delivered a pre-tax margin of 15% and its highest quarterly revenues since 2000, as financial advisor productivity and client assets per global representative reached all time highs and client assets in its bank deposit sweep program exceeded US$16 billion.

Asset Management delivered its second consecutive quarter of positive net flows and posted long-term inflows for the first time in two years, driven, in part, by new products launched during the past year.

John Mack, chairman and CEO, said, “Morgan Stanley delivered outstanding results this quarter – with record revenues and earnings along with ROE of more than 20% for the sixth quarter in a row. This strong performance was in large part the result of effective, disciplined risk-taking by our team in Institutional Securities, which helped deliver record results across our sales and trading businesses.”

“Our Global Wealth Management business this quarter delivered its highest revenues since 2000 and we continued to make substantial progress in executing our growth plan in Asset Management,” he added. “We see many opportunities to further improve our performance, and remain intensely focused on helping our clients navigate the constantly changing markets and leveraging our global franchise to create additional value for our shareholders.”