(Bloomberg) -- Capital One Financial Corp. posted a higher fourth-quarter profit as net interest margins widened and credit-card loans increased.

Net income rose 55% from a year earlier to $1.1 billion, or $2.67 a share, the McLean, Virginia-based lender said Tuesday in a statement. Adjusted earnings per share were $3.09, beating the $2.78 average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

“Our fourth-quarter results included steady top-line growth in our domestic card business, strong originations and a return to loan growth in our auto business, and stable credit results across our businesses,” Chief Executive Officer Richard Fairbank said in the statement.

Net interest margin, the difference between what banks earn on loans and what they pay for deposits, widened to 7.03% from 6.73% in last year’s fourth quarter.

Shares of Capital One were little changed in extended trading at 4:20 p.m. in New York. The stock had climbed about 50% in the past year.

Capital One has been grappling with the fallout from an online-banking disruption last week that left thousands of customers unable to access their accounts. Earlier this month, the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued the firm over savings account rates that allegedly shortchanged some existing customers.

The lender, meanwhile, is closing in on completing its $35 billion acquisition of rival Discover Financial Services, with shareholders of both companies set to vote at separate meetings on Feb. 18, and pending approval from federal regulators. A Delaware banking regulator has already rubber-stamped the deal, which would create the biggest US credit-card issuer by loan volume.

Other fourth-quarter highlights: