Wells Fargo Reports Insurance Revenues Down 9%

San Francisco-based bank Wells Fargo reported insurance revenues dropped 9 percent in the fourth quarter as the company reported a net loss of $2.55 billion.

Wells Fargo, which owns the insurance brokerage firm Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc., reported yesterday that insurance revenue dropped $33 million in the fourth quarter of last year to $337 million compared to the same period in 2007.

For the year, revenues rose 20 percent, or $300 million, to $1.83 billion.

The bank said its cross selling to commercial insurance and bank clients rose 18 percent on a quarter to quarter basis.

John Strumpf, president and chief executive officer of Wells Fargo said in a statement that the quarterly loss was the result of adding $8.1 billion to credit reserves primarily to cover costs regarding its acquisition of Wachovia.

Wells Fargo emphasized that while other banks were not lending it remained opened for business, reporting full year revenues were up 7 percent to $42.23 billion while fourth quarter revenue was down 4 percent from a year ago to $9.82 billion.