Ameriprise Financial Inc. swung to a third-quarter profit as the provider of financial planning services posted sharply higher revenue and net investment income.
Earnings topped Wall Street estimates, though revenue fell short.
Ameriprise is poised to become the eighth-largest U.S. manager of long-term mutual funds — with nearly $400 billion of global assets under management — once it closes its purchase of the stock and bond fund business of Bank of America Corp.'s Columbia Management unit.
The deal, worth about $1 billion, could transform Ameriprise, a former unit of American Express Co., by expanding its relatively stable revenue from asset management and giving its brokers access to Columbia's high-net-worth clients.
For the quarter, Ameriprise reported a profit of $260 million, or $1 a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $70 million, or 32 cents a share. Core operating earnings fell to $1.03 a share from $1.13, hurt by lower equity markets and the cost of maintaining high liquidity.
Revenue rose 19%, to $1.98 billion, helped by growth in net investment income, which rose to $542 million from $62 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 64 cents a share on $2.09 billion of revenue.
