But that remains well below the 31 cents a share the company was paying until February 2009, when the board cut the payout to conserve cash.
He said JPMorgan was "not asked by anybody" to cut the payout, but did so out of a "normal abundance of caution".
The "unusual level of uncertainty" over its earnings had caused the board to cut the payout to shareholders, the company said, although it insisted its cash position was strong at £60.3m.
BBVA, meanwhile, is paying its 2008 dividend partly in shares, and prudently plans to cut the payout ratio for 2009.Rivalries aside, the banks created a combined €14.3 billion in net profit in a year when many of their banking peers around the world were on their knees.
There has been widespread speculation that the company will have to cut the payout or sacrifice its gold-plated rating, or both.
Last month, Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt Jeffrey Immelt affirmed that the firm was committed to maintaining its 31 cent quarterly dividend and would hold onto its triple-A credit rating, though there has been widespread speculation that the company would have to cut the payout or sacrifice its gold-plated rating, or both.
In early November, the nation's chief financial regulator, Hideyuki Aizawa, called for legislative changes to allow life-insurance companies to cut the annual payouts that they have promised to their policyholders.Payout rates now average 3.5% a year.
This year he intends to slash government pension payments by 1.2 billion euros (close to $1.6 billion) and cut the bonus payouts that public sector workers in this country have long earned.
A reduction in the investment yield on a policy of one or two percentage points can cut the total payout to a retiree by 30-50%.On April 15th the European Commission overruled the regulators and proposed less stringent rules which would significantly reduce the amount of capital required and allow British insurers, for instance, to keep buying corporate bonds.
There has been widespread speculation that the company will have to cut the dividend payout or sacrifice its gold-plated rating, or even both.
