JPMorgan ducks subprime, poised to grow: Barron's

The JPMorgan Chase & Co. headquarters in a file photo. The third-largest U.S. bank avoided most of the losses suffered by other investment banks and its growth could now ''really accelerate,'' weekly financial publication Barron's reported on Sunday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), the third-largest U.S. bank, avoided most of the losses suffered by other investment banks and its growth could now "really accelerate," weekly financial publication Barron's reported on Sunday.

The paper cited Chief Executive Jamie Dimon's "firm hand" as the reason why JPMorgan had escaped the worst of the problems caused by subprime lending. Barron's said the risk-conscious CEO had sold most of its subprime loans originated in 2006 and early 2007, which are regarded as the most problematic.

Citing analysts, the publication said that JPMorgan's stock could be undervalued. It said the consolidation resulting from the merger of JPMorgan with Bank One, which took place in 2004, was now nearly completed, and had resulted in about $3 billion in cost savings.

However, JPMorgan did have to take a write-down of $1.3 billion on leveraged loans in the third quarter.

"In hindsight, we weren't disciplined enough in leveraged finance in turning down deals when terms became too loose," Dimon wrote after the quarter, according to Barron's. "We've since tightened our standards."

JPMorgan, one of the 30 stocks that make up the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average .DJI, closed on Friday at $46.08, down 13 cents, or 0.3 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange.