National City's Income Drops

National City Corp., Cleveland, has reported earnings of $484 million for the first quarter ($0.74 per share), down from $710 million ($1.16 per share) for the first quarter of 2004.Chairman and chief executive officer David Daberko said earnings-per-share comparisons with those of a year ago were "distorted by large gains from mortgage hedging." He went on to say that "mortgage-related activities, as expected, are now earning at more normal rates following the 2003-2004 period when we took advantage of the largest mortgage volumes in U.S. history." National City said its mortgage banking revenue in the first quarter of this year was $283 million, compared with $579 million for the first quarter of 2004. Net hedging gains related to mortgage servicing rights were $70 million for the first quarter, compared with a gain of $295 million in the first quarter of last year.