Wells Fargo (WFC) reported second quarter earnings that beat estimates on the top and bottom lines, in part due to higher profits from non-interest income.
The company reported earnings per share of $1.30 on revenue of $21.6 billion, beating the street’s estimates of $1.15 in earnings per share on revenue of $20.93 billion.
A pause on interest rate hikes led to pressures for the bank on interest income, which fell $216 million quarter-over-quarter to $12.1 billion. But the company was able to increase non-interest income through trust and investment fees, service charges on deposit accounts, and credit card fees.
Wells Fargo is the fourth big bank to report earnings this week. Yesterday Citigroup reported estimate-beating earnings. This morning, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs followed up with earnings beats as well.
“Continuing the important transformation”
The bank is still searching for a new CEO following the abrupt resignation of former head Tim Sloan at the end of March. Sloan had been facing pressure from Capitol Hill to resign in the wake of the company’s fake accounts scandal, in which employees were pushed to open millions of fraudulent bank and credit card accounts without customers’ permissions. Although John Stumpf was the CEO during the period covering the scandal, Sloan was also in the c-suite serving as CFO.
When Sloan resigned, the company tapped general counsel Allen Parker - who was not at Wells Fargo during the scandal - to serve as interim CEO and president. In addition to searching for a new successor, he is also stewarding the bank under the restriction of an asset cap imposed by the Federal Reserve in February 2018.
“In second quarter 2019, we recorded strong earnings and continued to make progress on our top priorities: focusing on our customers and team members; meeting the expectations of our regulators; and continuing the important transformation of our Company,” Parker said in the company’s earnings statement July 16.
Brian Cheung is a reporter covering the banking industry and the intersection of finance and policy for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter @bcheungz.
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