On April 17, Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) released first-quarter 2007 earnings for the period ended March 31.

  • Earnings per share grew 14% to $0.84 and beat analyst estimates by $0.05.
  • Growth was robust across the board: Revenue grew 11%, assets under custody grew 20%, global custody assets grew 30% to $1.8 trillion, and assets under management grew 16% to $756 billion.
  • The industry has been consolidating -- Bank of New York (NYSE:BK) and Mellon Financial recently merged, and State Street (NYSE:STT) and Investors Financial Services (NASDAQ:IFIN) also hooked up -- which could present opportunities for Northern Trust.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Total Revenue

$824

$743

10.9%

Net Interest Income

$210

$191

10.3%

Net Profit

$187

$163

14.5%

EPS

$0.84

$0.74

13.5%

Get back to basics with the income statement.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Money Market Accounts

$19,542

$12,821

52.4%

Securities- HTM

$12,557

$11,125

12.9%

Loans and Leases

$21,658

$20,041

8.1%

Total Earning Assets

$53,757

$43,986

22.2%

Liabilities

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Interest-Bearing Funds

$46,369

$37,500

23.7%

Noninterest-Bearing Deposits

$6,441

$6,633

(2.9%)

Learn about bank assets and bank liabilities.

Ratio Checkups

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Return on Average Assets

1.33%

1.33%

0.00%

Return on Average Equity

19.21%

18.22%

0.99%

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Fool contributor Emil Lee is an analyst and a disciple of value investing. He doesn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned above. Emil appreciates your comments, concerns, and complaints. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.