Wachovia Corp. reported third-quarter net income of $1.88 billion, or $1.17 per diluted share, up from $1.66 billion, or $1.06 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2005.

Excluding one-time merger charges related to the acquisition of auto-finance company Westcorp, Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia earned $1.9 billion, or $1.19 per diluted share, in the latest quarter.

On that basis, the company met analysts' consensus estimate for earnings per share.

Revenue totaled $7.04 billion, an increase of 5 percent from the same period last year.

Net interest income increased to $3.57 billion from $3.44 billion in the third quarter of last year. Noninterest income rose to more than $3.46 billion from $3.25 billion.

Results excluded Wachovia's acquisition of California thrift Golden West Financial Corp., which closed Oct. 1, a day after the third quarter ended. The $25.5 billion deal has given Wachovia 285 branches in states that include California, Florida, Colorado, Texas and Arizona.

Wachovia Chief Executive Ken Thompson said "our expanded consumer franchise including auto lending, credit cards and Westcorp retail branches in California generated results ahead of our expectations."

Wachovia (NYSE:WB) is one of the nation's largest diversified financial services companies and is the largest banking operation in the Philadelphia area, based on local deposits. As of Sept. 30, Wachovia had assets of $559.9 billion and market capitalization of $88.2 billion.

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