Wells Fargo's quarterly profit falls 7 percent

[April 14, 2016]  (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co reported a 7 percent fall in quarterly profit as the third-largest U.S. bank by assets set aside more money to cover bad loans, mainly to energy companies.

The net income applicable to common shareholders fell to $5.09 billion, or 99 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31 from $5.46 billion, or $1.04 per share, a year earlier, the bank said on Thursday.

Analysts on average had estimated earnings of 97 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the figures were comparable.

Wells Fargo set aside $1.09 billion in the quarter to cover bad loans, mainly to energy companies, compared with $608 million a year earlier.

Oil prices have dropped by two-thirds since 2014, gutting the global energy markets and driving a string of bankruptcies as debt-laden drillers default on their loans.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Richa Naidu in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey)

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