Excluding the write-down, the bank nevertheless said profit from continuing operations increased, helped by growth in fees from asset management and providing back-office services to institutional clients.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of New York Mellon Corp <BK.N> said on Thursday fourth-quarter profit fell 72 percent, reflecting a one-time gain a year earlier, and a write-down for collateralized debt obligations.
Excluding the write-down, the bank nevertheless said profit from continuing operations increased, helped by growth in fees from asset management and providing back-office services to institutional clients.
In the second quarter since the July merger of Bank of New York Co. with Mellon Financial Corp., net income totaled $520 million, or 45 cents per share.
That compared with profit of $1.86 billion a year earlier for the separate companies on a pro forma basis. That included a $1.38 billion gain at the former Bank of New York from the swap of its branch network to JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N>.
!ADVERTISEMENT!Profit from continuing operations was $700 million, or 61 cents per share. Excluding merger and other costs, it was 67 cents per share. Also excluding the write-down for CDOs, a complex form of security, it was 77 cents per share, the bank said.
Analysts on average expected profit of 70 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates. It wasn't immediately clear on what basis the estimate was computed. Revenue totaled $3.8 billion, topping the average $3.76 billion forecast, Reuters Estimates said.
Results reflected a $180 million charge tied to CDOs, reflecting "ongoing disruption in the capital markets" that caused credit spreads to widen. Many financial companies, including Citigroup Inc <C.N> and Merrill Lynch & Co <MER.N> have also suffered CDO write-downs, often much larger.
Bank of New York shares closed Wednesday at $45.09.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Derek Caney)
