The bank's efficiency ratio, a closely watched number reflecting non-interest expenses as a percentage of revenue, was 62.7 percent, compared with 58.7 percent a year ago and Sloan said it would be a challenge to get back to a preferred 55 to 59 percent level. "I think it will be at least a few more quarters," Chief Financial Officer John Shrewsberry said in an interview with Reuters. Chief Executive Tim Sloan told analysts he expected new account and credit card openings to recover in the third quarter after a steady decline since the sales scandal broke in September but the bank said costs associated with the controversy, which were $80 million in the first quarter, would remain around $70 million to $80 million for an unspecified period. On a per share basis, profit rose to $1.00 from 99 cents a year earlier, beating the average analyst estimate of 97 cents. Wells Fargo's revenues fell about 1 percent to $22 billion and missed the average estimate of $22.32 billion. Wall Street rivals have bounced back as bond and currency markets roared back to life last year with JPMorgan and Citi each reporting a 17 percent increase in quarterly profit on Thursday, beating analyst expectations and boosting their shares. Known for consistently growing revenues and earnings in the post-crisis era, Wells Fargo has been thrown off course by the sales controversy and in recent quarters has also been disadvantaged by its smaller trading footprint. Wells Fargo is trying to put a scandal over the opening of unauthorised accounts behind it and earlier this week said it would claw back an additional $75 million of compensation from the two former executives it blamed most for the debacle. Higher personnel costs and legal fees as well as lower mortgage banking revenues kept Wells Fargo's first-quarter net income broadly flat at $5.5 billion and the San Francisco-based bank said expenses as a share of revenues would remain high. By Nikhil Subba and Dan Freed (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co posted flat quarterly earnings on Thursday and warned its costs would remain elevated as the fallout from a sales practices scandal continues to impact the third-largest U.S.
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