Northern Trust Corp. said fourth-quarter earnings rose 16%, boosted by contract wins.
Net income grew to $170.8 million, or 77 cents a share, from $147.6 million, or 67 cents, a year earlier, the Chicago banking company said in a statement Wednesday. The quarters earnings matched the average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
The $57.3 billion-asset Northern Trust won contracts in the quarter from Chinas National Social Security Fund, the fixed-income portion of Oslos pension portfolio, and the John A. Hartford Foundation in New York. Its earnings rose for a 14th straight quarter.
Northern Trust is more leveraged to the non-U.S. markets, said Mark Fitzgibbon, an analyst at Sandler ONeill & Partners in New York, before the results were announced. The European and Asian markets are growing faster and have wider margins than the domestic markets.
The results were announced before the start of regular U.S. equity trading. Mr. Fitzgibbon rates the stock hold, and he does not own any shares.
After the markets opened, the shares fell as investors noted that growth in Northern Trusts investment assets lagged its rivals.
Investors were speculating that this strong equity market would cause them to outperform, said Mr. Fitzgibbon. It didnt happen.
The companys revenue jumped 12%, to $776 million, from $692.4 million. Assets under custody rose 21%, to $3.5 trillion. Managed assets increased 13%, to $697 billion.
Earnings were helped by stock prices that took their biggest quarterly jump of 2006. The average value of the Standard & Poors 500 Index rose 13% during the quarter. The Morgan Stanley Capital International EAFE Index, which tracks 1,133 companies in Europe, Australia, and Asia, jumped 23%.
