Silver Spring, Md. (AP) — Wells Fargo lost $2.4 billion in the second quarter, the first quarterly loss for the bank since the real estate crash of 2008.
Wells said it set aside an additional $8.4 billion for loan loss provisions — the money set aside to cover potentially bad loans — more than double last quarter’s $3.83 billion as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic ravaged almost every aspect of its business.
The bank said it had a loss of 66 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected a loss of 16 cents per share.
In the first full reporting period under coronavirus restrictions, the San Francisco-based bank said it had revenue of $17.84 billion in the quarter, down from $21.58 billion for the same period in 2019. The results fell short of Wall Street expectations of $18.4 billion, which was lower than usual due to the virus outbreak.
Wells also said it would reduce its third quarter 2020 common stock dividend to 10 cents per share from 51 cents per share.
“Our view of the length and severity of the economic downturn has deteriorated considerably from the assumptions used last quarter,” said Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf.
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Source: AP News
