Wells Fargo & Co. today posted a 55% slump in fourth-quarter profit, Reuters reported, as the fallout from a sales scandal that erupted in 2016 drove the bank to set aside another $1.5 billion toward legal expenses. Net income applicable to common stock fell to $2.55 billion, or 60 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $5.71 billion, or $1.21 per share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected a profit of $1.12 per share, according to Refinitiv data. The lender’s mortgage income, however, rose to $783 million from $467 million a year earlier, benefiting from the lower interest rates. Mortgage applications have increased in most weeks since the Fed began reducing rates, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association index. Wells Fargo’s mortgage operations are based in West Des Moines.