BNY Mellon Posts Lower Income From Fees -- WSJ

By Chris Wack

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (July 18, 2019).

Earnings at Bank of New York Mellon Corp. decreased in the company's second quarter as fee revenue slipped 3% from the same period a year ago.

The company reported $1.02 billion in net income, down 8% from the comparable quarter a year prior. Earnings were $1.01 a share, down from $1.03 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting 95 cents a share.

Total revenue fell 5% to $3.9 billion. Analysts were expecting $3.924 billion in revenue.

For the second consecutive quarter, bond markets and interest rates played a big role in the company's results. Specifically, the yields on various types of longer-term and shorter-term bonds -- often known as the yield curve -- can hurt financial firms' earnings when they converge.

"The impact of the level and shape of the yield curve, as well as continued low levels of volatility and muted market activity, negatively impacted our results," BNY Mellon Chief Executive Charles Scharf said in prepared remarks. "Our results this quarter also reflect our ongoing increased level of technology and product development investments, but these increases were more than offset by improved efficiency across the company."

Mr. Scharf added that, "we are pleased that we will be able to return capital to shareholders through up to $3.94 billion in common share repurchases by mid-2020, an increase of roughly 20%, and an increase in our common dividend by 11% to 31 cents per share starting in the third quarter."

Net interest revenue for the quarter fell 12%, while the company's total noninterest expenses were $2.65 billion, down 4% from last year.

For banks and other financial firms that fund themselves with deposits and other short-term loans and put that money to work through loans and longer-term investments, a flattening yield curve can squeeze their interest margins and leave a mark on earnings.

BNY Mellon shares rose 2.3% in what was a down day broadly for U.S. stocks.

Write to Chris Wack at chris.wack@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 18, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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