Bank of New York Mellon Corp , one of the world's largest custody banks, said its fourth-quarter profit from operations increased 10 percent as acquisitions bolstered fee income.

Operating earnings rose to $734 million, or 59 cents per share, from $667 million, or 55 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected operating earnings of 57 cents per share.

The bank's operating earnings, on which analysts and investors focus, excludes restructuring and merger costs as well as tax benefits from the year-earlier period. Income from continuing operations declined to $690 million, or 55 cents per share, from $712 million, or 59 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue of $3.8 billion was up 14 percent from a year earlier and 10 percent from the third quarter. That included a 16 percent jump in fee income to $3.0 billion, helped by the acquisitions of PNC Financial Services Group Inc's

Global Investment Servicing business and BHF Asset Servicing of Germany last year.

BNY said it had a record $25 trillion of assets under custody at the end of 2010, a 12 percent increase from the end of 2009 and a 2 percent gain over the prior quarter.

Shares of BNY closed at $32.02 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. The stock, which has gained 10 percent over the past year, got a boost in November when Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc disclosed it had bought a stake during the third quarter.

(Reporting by Aaron Pressman; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Gerald E. McCormick)

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