(by G. Andersen)

In the second quarter J.P. Morgan Chase had net loss of $548 million, or 27 cents a share, compares to net income of $1.83 billion, or 89 cents, a year earlier, according to Bloomberg News. 

Tthe second- biggest U.S. bank, set aside $2.3 billion to help pay for legal bills stemming from its role helping raise money for companies such as Enron Corp. that later filed for bankruptcy.

The results exclude the earnings of Bank One Corp., which J.P. Morgan acquired for $57 billion on July 1. Bank One earned $1.1 billion, or 99 cents a share, compared with $856 million, or 75 cents, a year earlier.

Excluding the litigation and merger costs, J.P, Morgan said it would have earned $1.81 billion, or 85 cents. The company was expected to earn 83 cents a share, according to the average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

J.P. Morgan also said it may buy back as much as $6 billion in common stock.

J.P. Morgan with assets of about $1.1 trillion, ranks second in size to New York-based Citigroup Inc.