Jan 15 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley's ( MS ) profit rose

as its ‌investment bankers ​reaped a ‍windfall from ⁠deals ⁠in the

fourth quarter.

The ‌bank ​posted a profit of $4.40 ⁠billion, ‍or $2.68 ​per

share, for the three months ‍ended December 31, it said on

Thursday. ​That ‍compares with $3.71 billion, ​or $2.22 per share,

a year earlier.

(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari ​in Bengaluru, editing by Lananh

Nguyen ‍and Sriraj Kalluvila)