First Chicago Reports Record 1st-Quarter Net

First Chicago Corp., parent company of the First National Bank of Chicago, posted record first-quarter earnings of $63 million, a 58% increase from the same period of 1985. The results were bolstered by sharply higher profits on foreign currency trading.

The $63-million gain, equal to $1.06 a share, compares to net income of $39.9 million, or 68 cents a share, for the first quarter of 1985.

“Our confidence that 1986 will be a solidly profitable year is sustained by our record first-quarter financial performance,” said First Chicago’s chairman, Berry F. Sullivan.

First Chicago Corp. is the 10th-largest bank holding company in the nation in both deposits and assets.

The corporation’s interest income fell to $283.5 million in the first quarter from $288.6 million in the same 1985 quarter, while non-interest income jumped to $187 million from $122.8 million.

The non-interest income category was boosted by a foreign exchange trading profit of $24.2 million. In the first three months of 1985, First Chicago had a loss of $4.6 million in foreign exchange trading due to a default on a long-term transaction.