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First Union beats target
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July 12, 2001: 7:26 a.m. ET
Profit for 2Q slips, but not as much as expected, for Charlotte-based bank
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - First Union Corp., one of the nation's largest banks, beat second-quarter earnings forecasts Thursday but saw profit fall from the year-earlier period.
The Charlotte, N.C.-based banking company, which is in a bidding battle with SunTrust Banks Inc.(STI: Research, Estimates) for Wachovia Corp. (WB: Research, Estimates), earned $649 million, or 66 cents a share, excluding special items in the quarter.
Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call were looking for profit to fall to 63 cents a share from the $714 million, or 73 cents a share, it earned a year earlier.
Including special items, which includes merger charges from earlier deals, the company posted net income of $633 million, or 63 cents a share, compared with a net loss in the year-earlier period of $2.2 billion, or $2.27 a share.
The bank said it saw record consumer loan volume and solid deposit growth during the quarter. Fee and other income grew 30 percent from year-earlier levels, led by higher mortgage-related income, service charges and other fee income. Overall revenue for the company edged up to $838 million from $829 million a year earlier.
First Union has reached an agreement to buy Wachovia for $13 billion, but SunTrust is trying to edge out the deal with a $14 billion bid of its own.
Shares of First Union (FTU: Research, Estimates) gained 9 cents to $33.16 in trading Wednesday. 
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