Morgan Stanley Reports Third
Quarter Net Income of $1.3 Billion
With Return on Equity of 22.0%;
Earnings Per Share are $1.15


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INTRODUCTION

NEW YORK, September 23, 2003 — Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MWD) today reported net income of $1,269 million for the quarter ended August 31, 2003 — a 108 percent increase from the third quarter of 2002 and 112 percent from the second quarter of 2003. Diluted earnings per share were $1.15 — compared to $0.55 a year ago and $0.55 in the second quarter. Changes to the terms of the Company's equity- based compensation program made in the third quarter increased net income by $350 million and diluted earnings per share by $0.32.

Third quarter net revenues (total revenues less interest expense and the provision for loan losses) were $5.3 billion — 13 percent better than last year's third quarter and 4 percent ahead of this year's second quarter. The annualized return on average common equity for the quarter was 22.0 percent.

Philip J. Purcell, Chairman & CEO, and Robert G. Scott, President & COO, said in a joint statement, "We are very pleased with these results. Business has clearly picked up in equity underwriting and retail securities, and our fixed income division had another outstanding quarter. We have begun to see the benefits of an improving environment as well as our previous expense initiatives."

For the first nine months of 2003, net income was $2,773 million, a 23 percent increase over $2,256 million a year ago. Nine-month diluted earnings per share were $2.52, up 24 percent from last year's $2.03. Net revenues rose 6 percent from a year ago to $15.8 billion and the annualized return on average common equity was 16.3 percent.

During the quarter, the Company completed an extensive analysis of its equity- based compensation program and implemented changes that emphasized long-term service and retention objectives, including longer vesting periods and higher eligibility requirements. As a result, the Company is expensing awards over a longer period of service. The effect of these changes reduced compensation expense by $519 million and increased net income by $350 million, or $0.32 per share, for the three and nine month periods ended August 31, 2003. The annualized return on average common equity increased by 6.1 percentage points for the quarter and 2.1 percentage points for the year-to-date period. By business segment, net income increased as follows: Institutional Securities, $273 million; Individual Investor Group, $48 million; Investment Management, $22 million; and Credit Services, $7 million. The business segment review below includes the effects of these changes.

In addition, the Company's segment results have been restated to reflect reallocations of certain revenues and expenses. While such reallocations had no effect on the Company's consolidated results of operations, they affected the net income of each segment. For a discussion of these changes, see "Explanatory Note" immediately preceding the financial pages of this release.

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INSTITUTIONAL SECURITIES

Institutional Securities net income increased to $825 million from last year's third quarter of $264 million. Net revenues increased 32 percent, driven by the Company's fixed income business, which achieved its second best quarter, and an improved market for equity underwriting.

  • Fixed income sales and trading net revenues more than doubled from third quarter 2002 to $1.5 billion. The increase resulted from strong performances in the credit products, interest-rate and currency products, and commodities groups. The revenue increases in credit products and interest rate products reflected a favorable trading environment, strong capital markets activity and increases in interest rate volatility. Higher commodities revenues were driven by increased activity in electricity, natural gas and oil markets.
  • Equity sales and trading net revenues declined 21 percent from a year ago to $830 million, reflecting lower revenues in the Company's cash and derivative products businesses. Sharply lower equity market volatility negatively affected results.
  • Advisory revenues were $130 million, down 13 percent from last year due to declining levels of global M&A activity. Industry-wide, completed M&A transaction volume fell 24 percent compared with third quarter 2002.1
  • Underwriting revenues of $388 million were 55 percent above last year's third quarter. An improved market share in equity — combined with an industry-wide increase in equity underwriting activity — drove the increase. An increase in industry-wide fixed income underwriting activity also contributed to these results.
  • For the calendar year-to-date, the Company ranked third in completed global M&A with a 20 percent market share; fifth in announced global M&A with a 14 percent market share; third in worldwide equity and equity related issuances with a 10 percent market share; and fourth in U.S. investment grade debt issuances with an 11 percent market share.2

1 Source: Thomson Financial Securities Data — for the periods: June 1 to August 31, 2002 & 2003.
2 Source: Thomson Financial Securities Data — for the period January 1, 2003 to August 31, 2003.

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INDIVIDUAL INVESTOR GROUP

The Individual Investor Group net income rose to $125 million compared to $18 million for the third quarter of 2002.

  • Total net revenues increased 3 percent from third quarter 2002 to $1,054 million. Third quarter 2002 net revenues included $95 million associated with the sale of the Company's MS Online brokerage accounts, and a $45 million writedown of an equity investment related to the Company's European retail securities activities. In the current quarter, principal transaction trading revenues increased 22 percent and commissions rose 7 percent, driven primarily by increased individual investor interest in equity products.
  • Total client assets of $544 billion were 5 percent higher than the end of last year's third quarter, reflecting, in part, a 10 percent increase in the S&P 500 over the same period of time. In addition, client assets in fee-based accounts rose 14 percent to $122 billion, and the percentage of client assets in fee-based accounts increased to 22 percent from 21 percent a year ago.
  • At quarter-end, the number of global financial advisors was 11,326 — a decrease of 318 for the quarter and 2,264 over the past year.

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INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

Investment Management net income rose to $116 million from $97 million in last year's third quarter. The increase was driven primarily by a lower income tax rate. Asset management fees decreased 4 percent reflecting lower distribution and redemption fees.

  • The Company's assets under management were $433 billion, up $12 billion over the second quarter of this year and $9 billion over the third quarter of last year. The increase during the quarter reflected market appreciation and positive net customer flows, while the increase from last year was due to market appreciation.
  • Retail assets of $268 billion were $9 billion higher than the end of the second quarter and $8 billion higher than a year ago. Institutional assets were $165 billion, an increase of $3 billion for the quarter and $1 billion compared to a year ago.
  • Among full-service brokerage firms, the Company had the highest number of domestic funds (47) receiving one of Morningstar's two highest ratings.3 The percent of the Company's fund assets performing in the top half of the Lipper rankings over three years was 69 percent, unchanged from a year ago.4

3 Full service brokerage firms include: Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Prudential. As of August 31, 2003.
4 As of July 31, 2003.

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CREDIT SERVICES

Credit Services quarterly net income declined to $185 million from $209 million in the third quarter of 2002. On a managed loan basis, an increase in the provision for loan losses was partially offset by lower non-interest expenses and higher net interest income.

  • Managed credit card loans at quarter end rose 1 percent from a year ago to $50 billion and the interest rate spread was unchanged at 8.91 percent.
  • Merchant and cardmember fees were essentially unchanged at $523 million as higher merchant discount fees from increased transaction volume were offset by lower cardmember late fees. Transaction volume rose 2 percent from a year ago to $24.8 billion, driven by a 6 percent increase in sales.
  • The managed credit card net charge-off rate increased to 6.90 percent — 83 basis points above a year ago and 40 basis points above last quarter. The over-30-day delinquency rate was 6.05 percent — 33 basis points above last year but 16 basis points below last quarter. Sustained high levels of U.S. bankruptcy filings and unemployment along with changes in the Company's account re-aging policy, which tightened terms under which delinquent accounts are returned to a current status — negatively affected the charge-off and delinquency rates.
  • Non-interest expenses of $542 million declined 12 percent compared with third quarter 2002, primarily due to a decline in marketing and advertising expenses.

As of August 31, 2003, the Company had repurchased approximately 9 million shares of its common stock since the end of fiscal 2002. The Company also announced that its Board of Directors declared a $0.23 quarterly dividend per common share. The dividend is payable on October 31, 2003, to common shareholders of record on October 10, 2003.

Total capital at August 31, 2003 was $78.2 billion, including $26.5 billion of common shareholders' equity and preferred securities subject to mandatory redemption. Book value per common share was $21.79, based on 1.1 billion shares outstanding.

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm and a market leader in securities, investment management and credit services. With more than 600 offices in 28 countries, Morgan Stanley connects people, ideas and capital to help clients achieve their financial aspirations.

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DISCLAIMER
This release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's beliefs and expectations, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. For a discussion of the risks and uncertainties that may affect the Company's future results, please see "Certain Factors Affecting Results of Operations" in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Competition" and "Regulation" in Part I, Item 1 in the Company's 2002 Annual Report on Form 10-K and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations" in the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for fiscal 2003.


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