UnionBanCal Reports 10% Jump in Profit

UnionBanCal Corp. reported a 10% jump in fourth-quarter profit, saying better credit management sharply reduced troubled loans and an inflow of low-cost deposits increased its lending margin.

The San Francisco-based parent of Union Bank of California earned $145 million, or 95 cents a share, up from $132 million, or 84 cents, in the last quarter of 2001. The results, announced after the market closed, beat the 89-cents-a-share consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

Full-year earnings rose nearly 10% to $528 million, or $3.38 a share, from $481 million, or $3.04, a year earlier.

The bank’s fourth-quarter net interest income was $404.6 million, up 6.4% from a year earlier. It set aside $30 million for loan losses, down from $70 million in the fourth quarter of 2001.