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On Wednesday, Wells Fargo & Co, the nation’s fourth largest bank by number of assets, reported quarterly profit that increased slightly.
The financial institute earned more from corporate loans and credit cards during the quarter.
Credit cards, which are one of the banks major expansion areas, were a positive segment for the back as fees increased by 12% to over $935 million.
The outstanding balances on credit cards were up by 16% to end the quarter at $31.3 billion, following its acquisition of Dillard’s Inc loan portfolio.
Industrial and commercial loans were up by 15% to end the quarter at $271.8 billion. A large amount came from an upswing in lending to financial institutions including loans amounting to $6.5 billion to finance the sale of the student loan portfolio of the bank to Navient Corp, which resulted in the bank earning $217 million during the quarter.
Net interest income, which is a measure of the banks overall profit resulting from lending, was higher by 3.5% to end the quarter at $11.2 billion compared to the same period one year ago.
The increase was thanks to loan growth and income resulting from trading assets and investments. Core loans increased by 8% compared to the fourth quarter one year ago.
Net income for shareholders of common stock was $5.38 billion equal to $1.02 a share for the three months ending December 31 and in line with analyst projections.
Wells Fargo, the biggest mortgage lender in the U.S. reported a drop of 4% in income out of that unit. The financial institute earned $44 billion during the quarter in home loans, a drop of 12% from the same period one year ago. It was a larger drop than JPMorgan Chase a rival reported on Wednesday.
Wells Fargo stock was down by 1.1% in midday trading on Wednesday. In 2014, the stock at Wells Fargo increased by 21%, triple the increase of KBW index, which consists of bank stocks.
