NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) April 22, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its rating on Wells Fargo&Co. (WFC; AA/Negative/A-1+) is not affected by the company's just-announced first-quarter earnings. WFC's $2.4 billion earnings after preferred dividends were very positive relative to peers' in the current stressed environment, although they might become less so as the year progresses. Results from Wachovia, which contributed $8.7 of the $21 billion of revenues, boosted earnings substantially. Wachovia's portfolio needed very little in the way of provisions because of purchase accounting adjustments. That effectively means that the first $40 billion of expected losses from risky loans will not run through income. It was comforting to hear that the integration is progressing
