Wells Fargo chairman and CEO John Stumpf said that Wells Fargo delivered outstanding first quarter results driven by strong revenue growth. Quarterly revenue was the highest in nine quarters, while achieving its ninth consecutive quarter of earnings per share growth.
"Our continued performance for shareholders through a variety of economic environments is a testament to our diversified business model. The performance of our franchise also allowed us to provide our shareholders with an increased common stock dividend for the second consecutive year," Stumpf added.
"As Wells Fargo celebrates its 160th anniversary and successful completion of the Wachovia merger integration, I want to again thank all our team members for helping our customers succeed financially and satisfying all their financial needs — quarter after quarter, year after year."
For the latest quarter 2011, its revenue grew from $1bn to $21.6bn, and this growth was mainly contributed by noninterest income, including strong mortgage banking and market sensitive revenues.
Net interest income was $10.9bn, while the net interest margin increased to 3.91% from 3.89% in fourth quarter 2011 as the benefit of disciplined deposit pricing and redeployment of short-term investments into long-term securities offset the runoff of higher yielding loans and investments.
Community banking registered net income of $2.3bn up by $168m, or 8%, from first quarter 2011, while revenue grew to $412m, or 3%, compared to fourth quarter 2011, driven by higher volume-related mortgage banking income and deposit growth, mitigated by the planned runoff of non-strategic loan portfolios.
The wholesale banking division reported net income of $1.9bn, up $233m, or 14%, versus first quarter 2011, while revenue generated by this segment stood at $6bn, with a rise of $617m, or 11%, from fourth quarter 2011.
Wealth, Brokerage and Retirement arm registered net income of $296m, down $47m from first quarter 2011, while its revenue was $3.1bn, up by 1% from fourth quarter 2011.
