Quarterly Results Mixed for Several Big Banking Firms

Citicorp said its first-quarter profit slipped from a year earlier while results posted Tuesday by several other major bank holding companies were mixed.

One of the strongest performances was turned in by Bankers Trust New York, which reported a record quarterly net.

Security Pacific Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. both reported good profit growth, while Manufacturers Hanover and Continental Illinois Corp. posted modest income gains.

Among the reports:

- Citicorp, of New York, the nation’s largest bank holding company, said first-quarter earnings fell to $270 million from $277 million a year ago. Citicorp, the parent of Citibank, said it continued to bolster reserves to guard against possible loan losses. Its allowance for loan and lease losses totaled $1.37 billion on March 31, up $409 million from a year ago.

- Manufacturers Hanover, the fourth-largest bank holding company, said net income rose to $102.1 million from $100.2 million. The New York company set aside $105 million in the first quarter for possible loan losses and wrote off $100 million of loans. The total reserve came to $818.7 million, or 1.41% of total loans.

- Security Pacific reported net income of $87.9 million, up 19.6% from $73.5 million a year earlier. The latest income included a $34.7-million pretax gain from the previously announced sale of its RMJ Securities subsidiary. The Los Angeles company, the nation’s seventh-largest bank holding company and parent of Security Pacific National Bank, made a loan-loss provision of $116.2 million in the first quarter, $37.4 million more than in the first quarter of 1985. The total reserve for possible losses stood at $591.3 million on March 31, up from $520 million a year before.

- Wells Fargo said earnings grew 15% to $51.6 million from $45 million in the corresponding 1985 period. Carl E. Reichardt, chairman of the San Francisco holding company that is the country’s 13th biggest, said Wells Fargo was benefiting from growth in net interest income and control of non-interest expenses. Wells Fargo’s total loan-loss allowance was $453 million on March 31, up from $335.9 million a year ago.

- Bolstered by a strong showing in its merchant banking business, Bankers Trust’s after-tax income swelled to a record $115.9 million in the first quarter.

- Continental Illinois said its net income edged up to $40.1 million from $39.3 million.

The Chicago bank holding company, the 12th largest, also said its loan-loss reserve climbed to $422 million, or 2.14% of total loans outstanding.