BB&T Corp. on Jan. 19 reported fourth-quarter 2016 net income available to common shareholders of $592 million, or 72 cents per share, compared to $502 million, or 64 cents per share, in 2015's fourth quarter.

Excluding merger-related and restructuring charges of $8 million (after tax), the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based company calculated net income available to common shareholders at $600 million, or 73 cents per share.

The S&P Capital IQ consensus estimate for normalized EPS in the fourth quarter was 74 cents per share. Total revenue was $2.73 billion, compared to $2.52 billion a year ago.

Chairman and CEO Kelly King said in the earnings release that, while higher interest rates created $34 million in pretax charges, BB&T was "well-positioned for future interest rate increases." Taxable equivalent net interest margin for the quarter was 3.32%, compared to 3.39% in the previous quarter and 3.35% in the year-ago period.

Nonperforming assets totaled $813 million, down sequentially from $843 million.

Noninterest expense for the fourth quarter was $1.67 billion, up from $1.60 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Net merger-related and restructuring charges amounted to $13 million for the fourth quarter, down from $43 million in the previous quarter and from $50 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. Regulatory charges amounted to $42 million, up from $41 million in the previous quarter and $28 million a year ago. The year-over-year increase in regulatory charges was primarily due to the FDIC's special assessment for larger institutions that became effective during the third quarter of 2016, as well as growth through acquisitions.

During the fourth quarter, BB&T repurchased 7.5 million shares. This January, it terminated $2.9 billion of higher-cost Federal Home Loan Bank advances, resulting in a loss on early extinguishment of $392 million.