NU Online News Service, Oct. 17, 1:40 p.m.EDT

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. says 2011third-quarter income in its insurance-services segment improved 7percent on a year-over-year basis, but dropped 26 percent on aquarter-to-quarter basis.

The banking company reports insurance services grew $26 millionto $423 million from the third quarter last year to the thirdquarter this year.

On a quarter-to-quarter basis, insurance services were down by$145 million, from $568 million for the second quarter thisyear.

The bank says insurance fees were down “almost entirely due toseasonality in crop insurance.”

Wells Fargo owns Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, a majormiddle-market insurance brokerage firm. Under its umbrella ofinsurance services, the bank operates an agribusinessinsurance-services unit.

The bank as a whole says net income for the third quarter was$4.1 billion up 21 percent, or $716 million, from the same periodlast year. Earnings per share rose 13 cents to 73 cents a share.Revenue was down 6 percent, or $1.25 billion, to $19.6 billion.

For the first three months of this year, net income is up 31percent, or $2.8 billion, to $11.8 billion. Earnings per shareincreased 50 cents to $2.11. Revenue was off 5 percent, or $3.4billion, to $60.3 billion.

According to Thomson Reuters, earnings per share was 1 cent offanalyst consensus estimates of 74 cents a share.