UPDATE: Wells Fargo Q4 Profit Meets Estimates

Wells Fargo & Co. WFC reported in-line earnings for the fourth quarter. The San Francisco, California-based company posted a quarterly net profit of $5.71 billion, or $1.02 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $5.61 billion, or $1.00 per share. Its revenue rose to $21.4 billion from $20.7 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.02 per share on revenue of $21.2 billion. Average loans increased to $849.4 billion from $813.3 billion, while average core deposits surged to $1.036 trillion from $965.8 billion. Net interest income jumped by $239 million to $11.2 billion, while net loan charge-offs came in at $735 million. Wells Fargo's net interest margin shrank to 3.04% from 3.27%. Noninterest expense climbed 4.7% to $12.65 billion. Wholesale Banking revenue rose 1% y/y to $6.1 billion, while Community Banking revenue gained 5% to $12.8 billion. Average total deposits for the quarter rose 8% y/y to $1.1 trillion, while total average loans gained 4% to $849.4 billion. "Wells Fargo had another strong year in 2014, with continued strength in the fundamental drivers of long-term performance: growing customers, loans, deposits and capital," said Chairman and CEO John Stumpf. "As a result of this performance, we were able to return more capital to our shareholders during the year.” Wells Fargo shares declined 0.89% to $51.39 in pre-market trading.