Charles Schwab Corp's first-quarter earnings per share are currently running about 1 cent lower than the 24 cents a share it reported in the first quarter of 2014.

Chief Financial Officer Joe Martinetto attributed the drop to lower-than-expected trading from clients due to negative stock market returns through early February. In a prepared statement, he said expenses were higher than in the fourth quarter, as expected, as Schwab markets its new robo-advisor program.

Martinetto's comments were included in Schwab's monthly activity report, which showed core net new assets from clients in February of $12.3 billion, bringing total client assets at month's end up 10 percent from a year earlier to $2.53 trillion.

Schwab shares were down 1.1 percent at $30.69 in early trading.