The unwinding of last year's provisions for credit losses - made amidst the pandemic - continued to help bank results improve. Higher asset values also propelled AuM figures.

The wealth and investment arm of Wells Fargo, which includes its private banking operation, reported a rise in net income to $579 million in the third quarter of 2021, against $419 million a year earlier and $465 million in the previous quarter.

Total revenue came in at $3.618 billion, up from $3.29 billion. Non-interest costs rose to $2.917 billion from $2.742 billion a year before. There was a net release (versus provision for credit losses) of $73 million in Q3, the San Francisco-based bank said.

Total client assets rose 13 per cent, mainly driven by rising markets.

Across the whole group, net income rose sharply to $5.122 billion from $3.216 billion, in spite of a drop in total revenue ($18.834 billion vs $19.316 billion); there was a net release of $1.395 billion in Q3, reversing the $769 million provision for credit losses last year because of the pandemic.

The bank’s Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio – a common measure of a bank’s capital buffer – of 11.6 per cent is up from 11.4 per cent a year earlier.