NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wells Fargo swung to a fourth-quarter profit even as it repaid $25 billion in bailout funds, the bank said Wednesday.
The San Francisco-based bank reported a fourth-quarter net income of $2.8 billion. Excluding charges, Wells earned 8 cents per share, compared with a loss of 84 cents in the year-earlier quarter. Analysts had expected a loss of 1 cent a share for the fourth quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.
Last month, Wells Fargo said it had reached an agreement with the government to repay the bailout money it had received. In the fourth quarter, earnings per share were reduced by 47 cents for preferred stock dividends and stock redemptions related to TARP.
Revenue rose in the quarter to $22.7 billion, beating analyst forecasts of $22 billion. In the year-earlier quarter, Wells' revenue totaled $9.48 billion. The bank said confidence is growing that the worst of the financial downturn is over.
Writedowns totaled $5.4 billion, or 2.7% of average loans, up from $5.1 billion, or 2.5%, in the third quarter.
Wells' results come amid a slew of results from another financials. Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) reported a fourth-quarter loss of $5.2 billion, which was worse than the $3.9 billion loss forecast. Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) posted its second straight quarterly profit on Wednesday, a day after Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) reported a fourth-quarter loss of $7.6 billion. 
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