US bank Wells Fargo has reported third-quarter profits of $3.1 billion, beating expectations despite a decline in revenue.
The solid profit for the quarter ending September 30 represents a 19% increase from the same period last year and a nine percent increase from the previous quarter, the bank said.
The San Francisco, California-based bank said revenue fell 7% from a year ago, to $20.9 billion.
‘Record earnings in the third quarter reflect the success of the Wachovia merger,’ the bank's chairman and chief executive John Stumpf said in the statement.
The merger in January 2009 nearly doubled the size of Wells Fargo.
‘Our results have shown that this landmark merger is a big success in terms of cost savings, revenue synergies and the quality of the integration,’ he added.
The bank, a big mortgage lender, also reported its second-highest quarter for mortgage applications, at a total value of $194 billion.
