Sovereign Bancorp said it had a fourth-quarter profit as the company gained more fees from consumer and commercial banking customers.
Net income was $73.5 million, or 28 cents a share, compared with a loss of $3.3 million, or 1 cent a share, a year earlier. That beat the 27 cent average estimate by analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call. The company said fees from consumer and commercial banking rose 22 percent and 39 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.
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The bank has branches in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Philadelphia-based Sovereign said results were helped by a 5 percent rise in commercial loans during 2001 and a 17 percent increase in consumer loans. The company set aside $32 million in the fourth quarter to cover loans it didn’t expect to be repaid. About $24.4 million in loans weren’t repaid during the quarter due the U.S. economy’s recession, Sovereign said.
Consumer fees rose to $41 million from $32.4 million a year earlier and commercial deposit fees increased to $9.1 million as the company gained more new checking and savings accounts. The shares of Sovereign rose 5 cents to $12.77.
Bloomberg News
