U.S. Bancorp's ($34.67 0.36%) fourth-quarter income rose 5.2% as the lender's mortgage-banking revenue continued to climb as credit-loss provisions shrank.

The major regional bank, with more than 3,000 branches across the Midwest and West, has been generating strong loan growth in recent quarters, as business-and-mortgage loan demand has benefited the company. But executives have warned that businesses have become more careful in borrowing, and that it was anticipating an end of the mortgage banking boom.