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Banks post strong 4Q
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January 15, 2002: 1:46 p.m. ET
Wells Fargo, Mellon beat estimates; Fifth Third meets with EPS gain.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A series of solid bank results that met or beat forecasts lifted financial stocks higher in trading Tuesday.
Wells Fargo posted higher fourth-quarter earnings than a year earlier that edged Wall Street expectations as the bank continued to log new accounts and increased loan activity.
For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Wells Fargo, the nation's fourth-largest bank in terms of assets, earned $1.18 billion, or 69 cents a share excluding items, up from $1.13 billion, or 65 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts on average expected a profit of 68 cents a share, according to earnings tracker First Call.
Fourth-quarter revenue rose to $5.8 billion from $5.4 billion.
The pre-market earnings report sent shares of Wells Fargo (WFC: up $1.68 to $44.70, Research, Estimates) sharply higher in Tuesday trading.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh-based Mellon Financial Corp. (MEL: up $0.01 to $39.24, Research, Estimates) saw earnings from operations slip slightly, though the decrease in shares outstanding raised the per-share results. The company said it earned $194 million, or 42 cents, from continuing operations excluding goodwill, compared with $200 million, or 41 cents a share, on the same basis a year earlier. First Call's forecast called for earnings per share excluding goodwill of 38 cents.
Earnings per share including goodwill amortization came in at 38 cents, up from 37 cents on the same basis a year earlier. The company's net income rose to $807 million, or $1.70 a share following gains from a number of asset sales and special charges, up from the $255 million, or 52 cents a share, it reported a year earlier.
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In other bank earnings, Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB: Research, Estimates), a Midwest regional bank, posted a 21 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit, citing low interest rates that helped drive lending operations.
The company posted earnings of $385.5 million, or 65 cents a share. That was in line with First Call's estimate and up from the $319.1 million, or 55 cents a share, it posted a year earlier. 
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