Chicago-based Northern Trust Corp., the parent company of Northern Trust Bank, reported fourth quarter net income of $167.7 million, or 69 cents per share, up from $130.2 million, or 53 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
Reported net income per common share for the full year was $2.81, compared with the prior year’s $2.47 per common share. Net income for 2012 totaled $687.3 million, up from $603.6 million in the previous year.
Northern Trust operates a branch in downtown Milwaukee.
Frederick Waddell, chairman and chief executive officer, said, “Fourth quarter and full year performance continued to reflect solid core trust fee growth amidst a challenging operating environment. We achieved strong new business success while also completing the integration of two important acquisitions. Throughout the year, we focused on the needs of our clients and on improving the profitability and returns of our business. Our return on equity of 9.3 percent in 2012 improved from 8.6 percent in 2011 and our capital actions, including an increase in the quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share and the repurchase of 3.5 million common shares, returned $449.8 million in capital to our shareholders.”
