(Reuters) – Wells Fargo’s profit climbed in the fourth quarter, buoyed by stronger investment banking earnings.
The fourth-largest U.S. lender’s net income rose to $5.08 billion, or $1.43 per share, it said on Wednesday. That compares with $3.45 billion, or 86 cents per share, a year earlier.
Wall Street was bolstered by a rebound in activity last year. Increasing confidence spurred companies to issue equity and debt. Corporations also struck deals, lifting volumes from a decade low in 2023.
Bankers expect 2025 to be a much busier year for deals, buoyed by hopes of lower corporate taxes, easing regulations and a broadly pro-business stance under President-elect Donald Trump.
Wells Fargo’s investment banking fees jumped 59% to $725 million in the quarter compared with a year earlier.
The bank also benefited from easier comparisons with the year earlier, when it took sizeable charges related to severance costs and a special assessment fee it had to pay to refill a government deposit insurance fund.
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru and Nivedita Balu in Toronto; Editing by Lananh Nguyen and Shounak Dasgupta)