(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co , the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, reported a 14 percent rise in first-quarter net profit as costs fell.
Net income applicable to common shareholders rose to $5.60 billion, or $1.05 per share, in the quarter ended March 31 from $4.93 billion, or 92 cents per share, a year earlier, the fourth-biggest U.S. bank said on Friday.
Analysts on average had expected Wells Fargo to earn 96 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the reported figures were comparable.
(Reporting by Anil D'Silva in Bangalore; Editing by Ted Kerr)