Three of the country's largest banks announced their profits for the third quarter on Tuesday.  For Wells Fargo and Citigroup profits increased compared to those in the third quarter of 2013, for JPMorgan Chase (Chase) it was a turn-around from a third quarter 2013 loss.

Chase, the largest U.S. bank, posted net income of $5.6 billion or $1.36 per share.  In the third quarter of 2013 the company had a net loss of $380 million or $0.17 per share.  Chase said it had reserved $1 billion for legal expenses which reduced its net earnings by $0.26 per share. 

Citigroup announced an adjusted net profit for the quarter of $3.67 billion or $1.15 per share.  This was a 13 percent increase year-over-year from the $3.26 billion or $1.02 per share earned in the third quarter of 2013.   Citigroup said its improved financial picture was driven by better results from the residual of troubled assets in its portfolio following the housing crisis.

Wells Fargo's profits increased only slightly from a year earlier with net income of $5.41 billion or $1.02 per share, up 1.7 percent from the $5.52 billion and $0.99 per share in the third quarter last year. 

Analysts had expected earnings of $1.12 per share for Citigroup and $1.39 per share for Chase.  The consensus for Wells Fargo was right on target at $1.02.

Chase's revenue was up 5.4 percent from a year earlier to $25.2 billion. The company attributed its loss last year, the only quarterly loss, according to Reuters, since Jamie Dimon became CEO, to $7.2 billion in legal and regulatory expenses. 

The company, which announced earlier this month that hackers had gained access to information on 76 million individual customers and 7 million small businesses, will beef up its budget for cyber security.  Dimon said that increases over the next five years will probably double its current $250 million in expenditures.

Citigroup said its adjusted profit which it derives by eliminating one-time items was $3.67 billion or $1.15 per share.  This was also higher than that of a year ago when, adjusted profits were $3.23 billion or $1 per share.  Revenue rose 9 percent to $19.6 billion from $17.9 billion.

Citigroup's report of increased profits was overshadowed by its announcement it planned to exit consumer banking in 11 countries including Japan and Egypt as well as seven countries in South and Central America.  The bank operates in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions with more than 200 million customer accounts.

Wells Fargo, which is the nation's largest mortgage lender reported overall revenue up 3.6 percent to $21.21 billion from $20.48 billion a year ago said the increase in profitability was due in part to improving numbers in that mortgage business. Rising rates caused an end to the refinancing boom in the summer of 2013 and led to a four-quarter drop in mortgage banking income.  However, that income rose 2 percent to $1.63 billion in the most recent quarter even as the volume of new home loans decreased by 40 percent.  The difference, the bank said, was bigger profits from the secondary market. 

Wells Fargo's loan portfolio grew to $838.9 billion in the quarter from the same period a year earlier, a gain of by 3.7 percent.  This was driven by a 13 percent increase in commercial and industrial loans.