SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) _ SVB Financial Group (SIVB) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net income of $262.9 million.

The Santa Clara, California-based bank said it had earnings of $5.06 per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $4.59 per share.

The financial services firm posted revenue of $902.1 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $847 million, also surpassing Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $786.8 million.

For the year, the company reported profit of $1.14 billion, or $21.73 per share. Revenue was reported as $3.32 billion.

SVB shares have increased 3% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $259.08, a rise of 15% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on SIVB at https://www.zacks.com/ap/SIVB

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News