State Street 1Q profit falls 6.6% on interest rates

State Street Corp., the third-largest custody bank, said first-quarter net income on an operating basis fell 6.6 percent as interest rates near record lows eroded income.

Profit decreased to $410 million, or 84 cents a share, from $439 million, or 88 cents, a year earlier, the Boston-based company said today in statement. Excluding certain items, 22 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated earnings of 87 cents a share on average.

“Asset valuations compared to last year are still down somewhat and the flattening of the yield curve’’ also reduced revenue, Marty Mosby, a Memphis-based analyst for Guggenheim Securities LLC, said in a telephone interview, referring to lower interest rates.