Bank of America's Quarterly Profit Soars as Revenues Sink

Bank of America reported a lower-than-expected first-quarter profit and its revenue fell, sending the No. 2 U.S. bank's shares down 3 percent before the bell on Wednesday.

Net income quadrupled to $2.62 billion, or 20 cents a share, from $653 million, or 3 cents a share a year earlier as expenses dropped and the bank set aside less money to cover bad loans. But total adjusted revenue fell 8.4 percent to $23.85 billion.

Analysts on average had expected Bank of America to earn 22 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) shares dropped 3.3 percent before the bell to $11.88.

Earnings in the year-earlier period were affected by a host of one-time items including a $4.8 billion charge related to the value of its debt.

Chief Executive Brian Moynihan has made progress in building capital and settling mortgage-related lawsuits since taking over in January 2010. But he is under pressure to show that the bank can produce higher earnings at a time of low interest rates, stricter regulations and volatile economic conditions.

Sponsored Links

Bank of America, the last of the big four U.S. banks to report results, has pledged to cut $8 billion in expenses by mid-2015 and has said it could reduce expenses in its division that handles delinquent mortgages by $1 billion by the end of 2013.

The bank showed signs of progress in these efforts in the quarter, with total expenses falling 5.2 percent to $18.15 billion.

As with other big banks this quarter, Bank of America results were also boosted by reduced credit losses as borrowers did a better job of making their payments. The bank's provision for loan losses fell 29.2 percent to $1.71 billion.

%Gallery-183453%