Several major U.S.financial firms reported their second quarter results Wednesday, delivering a mixed bag to shareholders.

Wells Fargo & Co. reported net income of US$3.06 billion for the second quarter, compared with US$2.55 billion in the first quarter, and US$3.17 billion in the same quarter last year. First half net income is down slightly year over year. The firm also said that it is about halfway through the integration of Wachovia Corp., and making progress on that task.

Morgan Stanley reported income of US$1.4 billion for the quarter, compared with a loss of US$138 million for the same period a year ago. Net revenues were US$8.0 billion up from US$5.2 billion last year. The results for the current quarter include a tax benefit of US$345 million associated with the remeasurement of tax reserves based on the status of federal and state examinations. It also recorded a charge of US$361 million related to the UK government’s payroll tax on 2009 discretionary bonuses.

Sales and trading net revenues were US$3.7 billion, wealth management delivered net revenues of US$3.1 billion, asset management reported net revenues of US$410 million, and investment banking revenues were US$885 million.

“While markets were challenging this quarter, Morgan Stanley benefited from a deliberate and disciplined focus on execution,” said James Gorman, president and CEO. “We still have a great deal of work to do across our global franchise and anticipate that the difficult market environment may continue in the months ahead.”

The CEOs of both firms weighed in on the impact of U.S. regulatory reforms. Wells Fargo’s chairman and CEO, John Stumpf, said that the firm supports the general principles inherent in the financial reform bill, but that it is concerned that some aspects of the planned regulatory reform will have unintended negative consequences for the financial system, consumers and businesses.

Whereas, Morgan Stanley’s Gorman said that it believes that “regulatory reforms are a key step toward restoring trust in the industry and the markets.”

U.S. Bancorp reported net income of US$766 million for the second quarter, driven by record total net revenue of US$4.5 billion, the result of strong year-over-year growth in both net interest income and fee revenue.

BlackRock, Inc. reported second quarter net income of US$432 million, up US$214 million from a year ago and up US$9 million compared to first quarter.

IE