BENGALURU: Bank of America Corp, the second-largest US bank by assets, reported a 15 per cent rise in quarterly profit as the lender kept a tight leash on costs and benefited from higher interest rates.
BofA’s shares rose about 1 per cent in premarket trade.
The bank’s net income attributable to common shareholders rose to $5.12 billion for third quarter ended Sept. 30 from $4.45 billion in the year-ago period. Earnings per share rose to 48 cents from 41 cents. Analysts on average had expected earnings of 45 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters. It was not immediately clear if the reported results were comparable.
Benefiting from higher Federal Reserve interest rates, the lender’s net interest income rose 9.4 per cent to $11.16 billion.
The Fed is widely expected to raise rates again in December.
BofA’s large stock of deposits and rate-sensitive mortgage securities make the lender particularly dependent on a rise in interest rates to boost profits.
Trading revenue fell 15 per cent, with revenue from fixed income trading down 22 per cent. JPMorgan and Citigroup also reported declines in trading revenue on Thursday due to a slump in volatility.
BofA’s non-interest expenses fell 2.5 per cent to $13.14 billion. Total revenue rose about 1 per cent to $22.08 billion.
