JPMorgan Chase (JPM), the nation's largest bank, on Friday reported a record net income for the third quarter of 2012.

The global financial services company says it had a third-quarter net income of $5.7 billion, a 34% increase over $4.3 billion for the same time period last year.

Earnings per share came in at a record $1.40 -- well above analysts' expectations for $1.21 -- compared with $1.02 for the third quarter of 2011.

Jamie Dimon, the company's chairman and CEO, said revenue for the quarter was up 6% compared with that of 2011, at $25.9 billion. He said the results show continued momentum in all of JPMorgan Chase businesses.

Revenue for mortgage loans was up 29% as more consumers refinanced their mortgages.

"Importantly, we believe the housing market has turned the corner," Dimon said in a press release. "In our Mortgage Banking business, we were encouraged that credit trends continued to modestly improve, and, as a result, the Firm reduced the related loan loss reserves by $900 million."

Dimon said the company is "acting responsibly" to help homeowners and to prevent foreclosures by offering close to 1.4 million mortgage modifications since 2009 and completing about one-third of those modifications.

The company's commercial banking unit also reported record revenue, with loan growth for a ninth straight quarter, up 15% to $124 billion. And its wholesale credit card environment remained stable.

JPMorgan took a multibillion-dollar hit earlier this year after the so-called London Whale derivatives trading losses, but it still exceeded most expectations for the second quarter.

"It's obvious that we had a gap in the armor here," Dimon said during a conference call after the earnings were announced. "An arrow went right through that gap." But Dimon said controls are in place, and the company characterized its losses as "modest."

For the first nine months of the year, JP Morgan Chase says it provided more than $1.3 trillion in credit and raised capital for its commercial and consumer clients, including more than $15 billion in credit for small U.S businesses, an increase of 21% since 2011.

"There were several significant items that affected our results this quarter some positively, some negatively," Dimon said in the press statement. "As we always do, we discuss these significant items in detail within our disclosures."

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