Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is out with its fourth-quarter earnings report, and it appears on the surface to be above estimates. Earnings came in at $1.00 per share on revenues of $20.67 billion. Thomson Reuters had estimates of $0.98 in earnings per share on $20.67 billion in revenue. The comparable results a year ago were $0.92 in earnings per share and $21.95 billion in revenue.
Keep in mind that these earnings translate to $5.61 billion in net income. Noninterest income in the fourth quarter was $9.9 billion, which was down from $11.3 billion from a year ago, based largely on lower mortgage banking revenue.
Wells Fargo ended with a Tier 1 capital ratio of 12.33% and a Tier 1 common equity ratio of 10.82%. Provisions for credit losses were $363 million. Return on assets was 1.47%, up one basis point, and return on equity was 13.81%, up 46 basis points. The bank said it had 264,000 employees.
Loans 90 days or more past due and still accruing were $1.0 billion at December 31, 2013, down from $1.1 billion at September 30, 2013. Wells Fargo also reported that its book value per common shares was $29.48 at the end of 2013, up from $28.98 at the end of September.
Wells Fargo shares were indicated down 1% at$45.05 in early trading Tuesday, perhaps based on bad loans being slightly higher than expected.
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