Wells Fargo reports record Q3 net income, but revenue slips

Wells Fargo & Company, the largest US mortgage lender, on Friday reported record net income for the third quarter of 2013, which represented a 13-percent increase from the same period of last year. According to the company's earnings report, its net income was 5.6 billion U.S. dollars, or 99 cents per diluted common share, for third quarter 2013, up from 4.9 billion dollars, or 88 cents a share, in the year-ago period. "Wells Fargo continued to demonstrate strong and consistent financial performance in the third quarter," said Wells Fargo Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf. "As our economy continues to transition to higher interest rates, our diversified business model and strong risk discipline contributed to record earnings per share along with continued strength in return on assets, return on equity and capital," Stumpf added. The bank's profit increase was mainly attributable to strong loan and deposit growth, continued improvement in credit quality and strengthened capital levels in the quarter. Fewer soured loans helped Wells Fargo to cut its credit losses to 975 million dollars in the third quarter this year from 2.4 billion dollars a year ago, representing a 59 percent year-over- year improvement. However, the company's quarterly revenue missed analysts' expectations. Its revenue was 20.5 billion dollars in the third quarter, down 3 percent from last year's 21.2 billion dollars. Chief Financial Officer Tim Sloan said: "This was a solid quarter for Wells Fargo. As expected, mortgage banking revenue was lower in the quarter as the recent increases in interest rates reduced refinance volume, but this impact was partially offset by improved credit and lower expenses." Its mortgage banking non-interest income in the third quarter plunged 43 percent to 1.6 billion dollars from 2.8 billion dollars in the prior year. The company made 80 billion dollars in residential mortgage origination during the third quarter, down from 139 billion dollars a year earlier.