Wells Fargo Reports Record Income in Fourth Quarter

Wells Fargo & Company ended the year with record earnings in the fourth quarter, reporting a net income of $4.1 billion, up from $3.4 billion in the third quarter, according to its fourth quarter report released Tuesday.

The San Francisco-based bank reported year-end profits of $15.9 billion, demonstrating a 28 percent increase from yearly earnings in 2010.
“The fourth quarter of 2011 was a very strong quarter for Wells Fargo, with record earnings, solid linked quarter growth in loans, deposits and capital, and continued strong credit quality,” said Chief Financial Officer Tim Sloan.
“Revenue was up 5 percent from the third quarter despite a full quarter’s impact of the new debit interchange rules. As expected, expenses were higher in the quarter and we are maintaining our target of $11 billion in noninterest expense in the fourth quarter of 2012,” Sloan continued.
Wells Fargo holds a residential mortgage servicing portfolio totaling $1.8 trillion in value.
As of year-end, Wells Fargo held $20.5 billion in government-issued and government-guaranteed loans that were at least 90 days delinquent.
Outside of government-associated loans, the bank held $1.9 billion in loans that were at least 90 days delinquent.
At the end of November, Wells Fargo counted 724,710 mortgage modifications – either completed or in trial – since the start of 2009. The majority – 84 percent – were proprietary, while the remainder were administered through HAMP.
In the fourth quarter, mortgage applications and originations at Wells Fargo increased. Applications in the fourth quarter totaled $157 billion, up from $169 billion in the third quarter.
Originations rose from $89 billion in the third quarter to $120 billion in the fourth quarter.
“In 2012, we are focused on Wells Fargo’s many opportunities, including continuing to provide our customers with award winning service, welcoming new customers as we grow market share throughout our many businesses and geographies, achieving efficiency improvements across the company and returning even more capital to our shareholders,” said John Stumpf, chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo.