SAN FRANCISCO — Discount broker Charles Schwab Corp. said Friday its first-quarter profit surged as the economy and stock markets improved.
The results topped Wall Street’s expectations.
The San Francisco company said its net income rose to $243 million, or 20 cents a share, in the three months ended March 31, from $6 million, or less than a penny a share, in the year-ago period. The 2010 quarter included a $126 million reserve for class action lawsuits.
Revenue climbed 23 percent to $1.21 billion from $978 million.
On average, analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 19 cents per share on $1.18 billion in revenue.
All three of the company’s revenue sources– net interest revenue, asset management and administration fees, and trading revenue — increased by double-digits from a year earlier.
Total client assets rose 10 percent to $1.65 billion, a record according to the company. And Schwab’s pre-tax profit margin climbed to 32.6 percent, the highest in nine quarters.
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