New York - US investment bank Morgan Stanley reported Wednesday that its net income in a "turbulent" second quarter of 2008 fell by more than one-half to 1.026 billion dollars, a figure slightly above analysts' projections.

The figure, compared with over 2.36 billion dollars in the previous-year period, came to 0.95 dollars per share, slightly higher than analysts' forecasts of 0.92 dollars for the third-largest US investment bank.

"Given the turbulent environment this quarter, we stayed close to shore and continued strengthening the Firm's capital and liquidity positions," commented John J. Mack, Chairman and CEO. according to a company statement on its website.

Net revenues weighed in at 6.5 billion dollars, down 38 per cent from the second quarter of 2007, the company said, becoming the third US investment bank this week to report lower figures amid the repercussions from the US financial industry crisis.

For the first six months, Morgan Stanley's income from continuing operations was just under 2.58 billion dollars, down 45 per cent from the first half of 2007. Diluted earnings per share, at 2.40 dollars, were well below the 4.41 dollars in the first half of last year.

On Tuesday, the largest US investment bank, Goldman Sachs, reported second-quarter earnings of 2.05 billion dollars, down 10 per cent from a year ago. On Monday, Lehman Brothers reported a loss of 2.8 billion dollars in the quarter. (dpa)