5 Major Bank Firms Report Profit Gains : Citicorp, Hanover, 1st Interstate, Mellon and Wells Fargo Up

Citicorp, the nation’s largest banking company, and four of the biggest bank holding companies in the United States reported increased net earnings during 1985 and generally higher fourth-quarter profits.

Citicorp, the parent of Citibank, the nation’s second-largest bank, reported net earnings of $243 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, down from $261 million a year ago.

Manufacturers Hanover Corp., the fourth-largest bank holding company, reported record fourth-quarter net income of $108.3 million, compared to $106.2 million in the previous year.

First Interstate Bancorp, the eighth largest, said it had a profit of $84.8 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to $74.8 million a year earlier.

No. 11 Mellon Bank Corp. of Pittsburgh reported net income of $45 million during the quarter, compared to $43.4 million in the same period of 1984.

And Wells Fargo of San Francisco, the 13th largest, said it had fourth-quarter net income of $49.05 million, compared to $44.5 million in the same period of 1984.

Interest Income Up

Citicorp said it had net interest income of $1.53 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $1.2 billion a year earlier, and non-interest revenue of $844 million, compared to $694 million a year earlier.

In the fourth quarter, Citicorp had a loan-loss provision totaling $394 million for consumer and commercial loans, compared to $253 million a year earlier, while the loan-loss allowance for 1985 totaled $1.23 billion, up from $912 million in the previous year.

Non-performing and renegotiated loans totaled $2.2 billion at year-end, compared to $2.4 billion a year earlier.

For the full year, Citicorp had a profit of $998 million, compared to $890 million a year ago. Net interest income rose to $5.44 billion from $4.31 billion in 1984, while non-interest income increased to $3.03 billion from $2.3 billion.

Assets as of Dec. 31 totaled $173.6 billion, compared to $150.5 billion a year earlier.

Manufacturers Hanover, owner of the fourth-largest bank in the country, said it had net interest revenue of $544.7 million during the fourth quarter, compared to $531.6 million a year earlier, and non-interest revenue of $344.6 million, up from $247.6 million.

The company set aside $205.6 million for loan losses in the quarter, a sharp increase from $146.9 million in the previous fourth quarter. At year-end, the company had an $813.8-million loan-loss reserve, up from $630.7 million at the end of 1984.

For the year, the New York-based company reported net income of $407.5 million, compared to $352.5 million in 1984.

Net interest income for the year rose to $2.11 billion from $1.86 billion in 1984 and other revenue increased to $1.06 billion from $823 million. Non-accruing and restructured loans totaled $1.53 billion as of Dec. 31, compared to $1.71 billion a year earlier.

Assets totaled $76.5 billion at year-end, compared to $75.7 billion a year earlier.

First Interstate reported net interest income of $533.5 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $446.6 million in the previous year, and non-interest revenue of $202.9 million, up from $150.3 million in 1984.

Increased Reserves

In the fourth quarter, the company set aside $138.8 million in reserves for possible future loan losses, compared to $74.4 million a year earlier. For the full year, the company set aside $375.6 million for bad loans, compared to $228.8 million for 1984.

For the full year, First Interstate had net income of $313.1 million, compared to $276.3 million in 1984.

Net interest income was $1.93 billion, compared to $1.68 billion in 1984, and non-interest revenue was $709.6 million, up from $546.9 million.

As of Dec. 31, the company listed assets of $48.9 billion, a gain from the $45.5 billion of a year earlier.

Chairman J. J. Pinola said non-performing assets--which totaled $1.25 billion at year-end, up from $1.1 billion at the same time of 1984--continued to hurt First Interstate’s profitability.

Mellon Bank reported net interest income of $204.7 million for the fourth quarter, against $227.4 million a year earlier, and non-interest revenue of $13.8 million, up from $10.4 million in 1984.

The provision for loan losses was $37.1 million in the fourth quarter, down from $53.5 million a year earlier, while the loan-loss reserve for the year was $361 million on Dec. 31, up from $304 million on the same date in 1984.

Greater Assets

Assets totaled $33.4 billion at year-end, up from $30.6 billion at the end of 1984.

For all of 1985, the company, which owns 15th-ranked Mellon Bank, posted net income of $201.7 million, up from $158.5 million a year earlier.

Wells Fargo said its fourth-quarter net interest income was $328.2 million, up from $305 million a year earlier, and non-interest income was $106.9 million, up from $75.5 million. For the year, interest income was $1.3 billion, up from $1.1 billion a year earlier, and non-interest revenue was $395.7 million, up from $270.6 million.

The provision for loan losses was $371.8 million for the year, compared to 194.6 million in 1984.

Non-accruing loans totaled $789.8 million at year-end, up from $734.6 million a year earlier, chiefly because of agricultural loan problems.

Wells Fargo said its assets totaled $29.4 billion on Dec. 31, compared to $28.2 billion a year earlier.