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Wells Fargo 3Q profit falls 23 percent

By the Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Wells Fargo says third-quarter profit fell 23 percent as it took losses on investments in troubled financial companies. Results, however, topped analysts expectations.

The San Francisco bank says it earned $1.64 billion, or 49 cents per share, compared $2.17 billion, or 64 cents per share, a year earlier. The bank says total revenue rose 5 percent to $10.38 billion.

Thomson Reuters says analysts had expected a profit of 41 cents per share on revenue of $10.96 billion.

Wells Fargo says results were hurt by write-downs on investments in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Lehman Brothers, as well as an increase in credit reserves. Wells Fargo last week won a heated contest with Citigroup for control of Wachovia Corp.

The bank took a $2.5 billion provision against potential bad loans.

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