Northern Trust’s securities lending revenue decreased in Q1, compared to the same period last year, due to lower spreads.
The Chicago-headquartered bank saw fees from its agency lending business reach $18.2 million in the first quarter of this year, up 4 per cent from the prior quarter but down 22 per cent from Q1 2020, when it earned $23.4 million.
The Q1 figures mark the third consecutive quarter Northern Trust has failed to achieve earnings north of $20 million, a threshold it has cleared in all prior quarters since 2016.
Northern Trust was among the agent lenders to make gains in full-year revenue from their securities lending business in 2020, compared to 2019, primarily thanks to above-average returns in Q2 last year.
The bank brought in $88 million in 2020, up from $87.2 million the prior year.
Northern Trust’s securities lending business sits under its corporate and institutional services division which overall reported revenue of $620.5 million for Q1, up from $596.1 million in the previous quarter and $574.4 million in Q1 2020, a 4 per cent and 8 per cent increase, respectively.
