Bank of America posts smaller than expected loss

Bank of America today (October 15th) reported a smaller-than-expected loss for the third quarter of the year, posting a third-quarter loss of one cent a share.

Revenue for the quarter came in at $21.21 billion (£13.2 billion), against the comparable year-ago figure of $21.53 billion.

A pickup in profits from trading helped balance a $5.6 billion payment to the US government. The bank has set aside money for a deal with the Justice Department, under which it agreed to pay $16.65 billion to settle the government’s accusations it sold flawed mortgage securities before the 2008 crisis.

Four of the bank's five main businesses were profitable in the latest quarter, the exception being the mortgage business.

The bank's shares were down 2.4 per cent at $16.12 in early trading. Net income including preferred stock dividends fell to $168 million from $2.5 billion.

"We saw solid customer and client activity and improved profitability in most of our businesses relative to the year-ago quarter," said the bank's chief executive Brian Moynihan.

On Tuesday, JP Morgan reported a profit of $5.6 billion for the quarter, which represent a significant improvement on a year earlier, when the bank made a $380 million loss after it set aside billions of dollars to settle charges relating to the sale of mortgage-related investment products.

The bank posted a total revenue for the quarter of $25.2 billion, up five per cent on a year earlier.

Two other big US banks posted their profit this week, with Citigroup Inc reporting a 13 per cent rise in adjusted net profit, while Wells Fargo reported a 1.7 per cent increase in net earnings..

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