JPMorgan debt sale: Striking while the iron is hot?

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second- biggest U.S. bank by assets, plans to sell 10-year global notes as soon as today after reporting profit rose 76 percent, more than analysts estimated. The sale will be benchmark in size, according to a person familiar with the transaction, who declined to be identified because terms aren't set. A benchmark sale is typically at least $500 million. JPMorgan is marketing debt after it said second-quarter net income climbed to $4.8 billion, or $1.09 a share, from $2.72 billion, or 28 cents, in the same period a year earlier. The per-share earnings compared with an average estimate for adjusted earnings of 71 cents projected by 22 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. “There's probably some appetite, or as good of appetite as there's been for financials to potentially come to market,” Tom Murphy, who helps oversee more than $20 billion of investment- grade credit at Columbus Management in Minneapolis, said in a telephone interview earlier this week. “It will be something very interesting to follow to see if the JPMorgans, the Bank of Americas, et cetera, decide to do some term-issuance at much tighter spreads, at much tighter yields.” Bank of America Corp., the largest U.S. bank ranked by assets, is expected to report earnings tomorrow. JPMorgan last sold debt on June 17, issuing $1.25 billion of five-year notes, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The 3.4 percent notes priced to yield 3.445 percent, or 145 basis points more than similar-maturity Treasuries, Bloomberg data show. That offering was boosted from $1 billion, the data show. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. Those notes traded yesterday at 101.594 cents on the dollar to yield 3.049 percent, or 124.1 basis points more than benchmarks, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. JPMorgan is marketing 10-year fixed-rate debt for the first time since March, when it sold $1.5 billion of the bonds, Bloomberg data show. The bank will manage today's offering, the person familiar said.