Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) reports first quarter net income of $5.2 billion or 92 cents per share, beating the consensus of an analyst poll by Thomson Reuters, which indicated expectations of 88 cents per share. That’s a 22 percent increase from the first quarter of last year, and the bank said it is the highest quarterly profit in its history. Wells Fargo’s revenue for the first quarter was $21.3 billion, which was down slightly from the first quarter last year, when the bank posted $21.6 billion in revenue.
“Wells Fargo delivered outstanding first quarter 2013 results for our shareholders,” CEO John Stumpf said in a statement. “Quarterly earnings and EPS increased at double-digit rates compared with first quarter 2012, while loans and deposits demonstrated continued growth in a challenging economic environment.
The bank reported total average loans of $798.1 billion, which is a $29.5 billion increase from the first quarter of last year. Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) also saw continued credit quality improvement, including a $976 million decline of net charge-offs.
According to the bank’s statement, this was the 13th quarter in a row of earnings per share growth and the eight quarter in a row of record earnings per share. In terms of capital levels, the bank reports an increase of $14.1 billion in Tier 1 common equity under Basel I.
Overall, Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) reported higher returns across most divisions, including improvements in the corporations unit and gains in its wealth management business.
At the moment of this writing, shares of Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) were down 1.89 percent in pre-market trades.
