JPMorgan Chase reported record net income of $6.5 billion for the first quarter of 2013, compared with net income of $4.9 billion in the first quarter of 2012. Revenue for the quarter was $25.8 billion, compared with $26.8 billion in the prior year.

Earnings per share were a record $1.59, compared with $1.19 in the first quarter one-year ago. Consensus analyst estimates were for $1.38 per share performance.

Highlights from the report included the following:

. $480 billion of credit provided and capital raised in the first quarter

. $78 billion of credit provided for consumers; originated more than 260,000 mortgages

. Nearly $4 billion of credit provided for U.S. small businesses

. $123 billion of credit provided for corporations

Chief executive Jamie Dimon said, “We are seeing positive signs that the economy is healthy and getting stronger. Housing prices continued to improve and new home purchases are also starting to come back. We also saw strong performance in our credit card portfolio, with net charge-offs remaining near historic lows, another sign that consumers are healthier and more confident. As a result, we reduced the allowance for loan losses in Consumer & Community Banking in the first quarter by a total of $1.2 billion and are likely to see further releases. Credit conditions were also favorable across the wholesale loan portfolios.”

Dimon added: “The exception is that loan growth across the industry has been softer this quarter, although year-on-year growth remained strong. Small businesses remain cautious about the recovery and fiscal uncertainty, and are not investing their capital. However, companies’ balance sheets are much stronger than they were before the financial crisis and small businesses remain well positioned to invest in growth once they decide to. With approximately 2 million small business customers, Chase remains the nation’s #1 Small Business Administration lender and we plan to serve more customers when loan demand comes back.”

To read the JPMorgan Chase news release: click here.