Northern Trust Q3 profit up slightly, misses expectations 

Northern Trust Q3 profit up slightly, misses expectations

Oct 17, 2012 (Menafn - Chicago Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --Northern Trust Corp.'s profits were up in the third quarter but came in a penny a share lower than Wall Street estimates.

The Chicago-based financial services firm earned 73 cents a share, compared with 70 cents in the same period a year ago. The consensus from analysts was that Northern would earn 74 cents a share, according to Bloomberg News.

Northern's revenues also rose, but also came in lower than expected as foreign exchange trading income was down due to less volatility in the currency market.

Meanwhile, rival Bank of New York Mellon also released third-quarter profits on Wednesday, and its results exceeded expectations, Bloomberg reported.

Northern's assets under custody and management grew 14 percent and 16 percent, respectively, over the same period last year.

Trust, investment and other servicing fees, the biggest part of the company's revenues, grew 8 percent. Northern said the increase is due partly to getting new business.

But "continued head winds posed by lower interest rates, market activity and volatility moderated these achievements," Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Waddell said in a statement. "However, we continued to adapt to these macroeconomic challenges with effective expense management."

Northern's non-interest expense was 696.4 million in the current quarter, compared with 701.2 million in the same period a year ago. Northern's spending on outside services, for example, was down 9 percent from the same period a year ago.

byerak@tribune.com -- Twitter: @beckyyerak

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