Wells Fargo Q4 profits up 24 percent

Wells Fargo, tapping into a refinancing market invigorated by low interest rates, announced Friday that its fourth-quarter profits totaled $5.1 billion — a 24 percent increase over last quarter, the New York Times reported. Wells Fargo reported earnings of $0.91 a share, exceeding the expectations of analysts, who had thought the San Francisco, Calif.-based bank would earn $0.89 a share. Revenues were also up seven percent from last quarter to $21.95 billion. The growth was spurred in large part by the bank’s consumer lending business, as borrowers took advantage of record low interest rates to refinance their mortgages. [more]