BNY assets hit fresh record at $26.7 trillion
CUSTODIAN bank BNY Mellon saw profits rise strongly in the final three months of 2012, but not by enough to outweigh the effects of weak market conditions which pulled down full year income, the bank revealed yesterday.
Profits came in at $2.43bn (£1.52bn) for 2012, down 3.5 per cent on the year.
Investment management and fee revenues increased strongly, rising 17 per cent on the year to $853m.
Assets under management rose nine per cent on the year to $26.7 trillion, with $100bn of that increase coming in the fourth quarter.
In part that is down to the fiscal cliff which encouraged major inflows in December.
But low interest rates squeezed the bank’s margins, weighing on profits – its net interest margin was just 1.09 per cent in the final three months of the year, down from 1.27 per cent in the same period of 2011.
Falling volatility and declining volumes hit foreign exchange and other trading revenues, which came in at $692m, down 18.4 per cent from $848m a year earlier.
Meanwhile costs including software and staff edged up, denting profits further.
The bank’s shares dipped 2.67 per cent on the results.