Profits at U.S. Bancorp held steady in the third quarter as the Minneapolis company on Wednesday reported a mix of both higher fees and salary-related costs.
The $454 billion-asset company earned $1.5 billion, or just under 1% more than a year earlier. Earnings per share were 84 cents, beating an estimate of analysts polled by Bloomberg by one penny.
A spike in revenue from mortgage banking and investment fees boosted the quarterly results. In total, noninterest income rose 5% to $2.5 billion.
Net interest income climbed 4%, to $2.9 billion. Total loans grew 7% to $269 billion, in part from strong growth in the company's credit card portfolio.
The net interest margin shrank 6 basis points to 2.98.
Higher costs continued to weigh down profits. Noninterest expenses jumped 6% to $2.9 billion, mostly from compensation costs but also from investments in technology and marketing.
