MINNEAPOLIS _ U.S. Bancorp said its fourth-quarter profit rose 10 percent, helped by more loan activity, higher interest rates and lower expenses.
The Minneapolis-based company, which operates the nation's fifth-largest bank, said it earned $1.86 billion, or $1.10 a share, in the last three months of the year, lifting it to a record full-year profit of $7.1 billion.
Revenue was $5.83 billion, up 4 percent, in the October-through-December quarter. Noninterest income, which accounts for about 40 percent of overall revenue, grew faster than interest income and was led by its credit card and corporate payments businesses.
The profit amounted to $1.10 a share, which was above the $1.06 consensus from the forecasts of investment analysts. The company said its per-share profit was lifted by 3 cents in the net effect of one-time gains and losses. Those included the sale of some loan portfolios and the $690 million sale of its ATM servicing business, called Elan Financial Services, to Fiserv Corp. that was announced just before the start of the quarter.
After the news, U.S. Bank shares were up about 1 percent in premarket trading indications.
U.S. Bank reported loan growth of 1.4 percent. Strong growth in commercial loans, its biggest portfolio, residential mortgages and credit cards offset a decline in commercial real estate and the effect of selling most of its FDIC-covered loans.
"Loan growth accelerated in the fourth quarter even as we maintained our consistent and disciplined underwriting standards," Andy Cecere, the company's chief executive, said in a statement.
U.S. Bank said its net interest margin, the difference between what it charges to lend money to customers and what it pays depositors and for borrowing from other banks, rose to 3.15 percent from 3.11 percent a year ago.
The company's noninterest expenses fell nearly 16 percent from a year ago, shaped partly by a 54 percent cut in marketing spending. U.S. Bank also accounted for a one-time government penalty over its anti-money laundering practices as an expense in the year-ago quarter.
