PNC Financial Services Group Inc, a fast-growing Northeast U.S. regional bank, on Thursday said quarterly net income fell from a year earlier when it recorded a $1.3 billion gain from its BlackRock Inc money management affiliate.

Net income for Pittsburgh-based PNC fell to $407 million, or $1.19 a share, from $1.5 billion, or $5.01 a share, in the year-earlier period.

Excluding one-time items, PNC's profit rose to $469 million, or $1.37 a share, from $380 million, or $1.28 a share, a year ago.

Revenue for the quarter was $1.76 billion, compared with $3.5 billion during the same period a year ago. On an adjusted basis, revenue was $1.8 billion in the third quarter versus $1.4 billion a year ago, which excluded certain one-time items.

Analysts polled by Reuters Estimates on average forecast profit of $1.35 per share on revenue of $1.76 billion.

Last year's one-time gain came when BlackRock bought Merrill Lynch & Co Inc's asset management arm for about $9.5 billion in a deal that more than doubled assets under management to $1.1 trillion. PNC's stake in BlackRock fell by half to 34 percent.

In the third quarter, PNC said fee income rose 24 percent, benefiting from its Mercantile Bankshares Corporation acquisition in September, as well as higher brokerage and asset management fees, customer growth and greater revenue from servicing third-party loans.

The bank said it expects a one-time charge in the fourth quarter related to its acquisition of Yardville National Bancorp, which is expected to close this month.

The Yardville acquisition is expected to add to earnings in 2008, while PNC's purchase of Sterling Financial Corporation, a deal expected to close in the first quarter, is seen adding to earnings in 2009, PNC said.

PNC shares were up 1.28 percent, or 86 cents, at $68.14 in late morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha, Tim McLaughlin and Lilla Zuill)

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