US banking giant Wells Fargo Friday reported slightly higher earnings as loan and deposit growth offset the effects of lower revenues from leading mortgage categories. Wells Fargo opened second-quarter earnings season for big banks with profits of $5.7 billion, up 3.8 percent from the year-ago period.
Wells Fargo executives have been bullish on the momentum in the US economy. On Friday, they pointed to continuing signs of improvement. "By continuing to serve customers we grew loans, increased deposits and deepened our relationships," said Wells Fargo chief executive John Stumpf. "Our results also reflected strong credit quality driven by an improved economy."
Total loans came in at $828.9 billion, up $2.5 billion from March, with commercial loans rising by more than $10 billion and consumer loans dropping $7.6 billion. Total average deposits were $1.1 trillion, up nine percent from a year ago. Credit quality also continued to improve as the bank faced fewer unpaid loans. Credit losses were $717 million compared with $1.2 billion in the year-ago period.