CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ Bank of America said Monday it made record profit during the third quarter of this year, an achievement the bank said was helped by an improving U.S. economy.
Profit rose 32 percent from the same period a year ago to $7.2 billion, the bank said. Revenue grew 4 percent from higher interest rates and growth in deposits and loans, among other factors.
The profit figure surpassed Bank of America's previous record of $6.9 billion from the first quarter of this year. Bank of America, like other banks, is benefiting from Federal Reserve increases to interest rates, which have led banks to charge more interest to borrowers. Banks are also getting a boost from the federal tax cuts passed by Congress last year.
"We feel really good about the U.S. economy," Chief Financial Officer Paul Donofrio said in a call with reporters. He said consumer confidence is at historically high levels, wages are starting to rise and unemployment remains low.
"There's not a lot not to like," he said.
In the quarter, Bank of America also lowered its expenses. Non-interest expenses, a category that includes items like labor costs, declined by $327 million, or 2 percent, from the same quarter last year.
CEO Brian Moynihan, who took over the bank in 2010, has been focused for years on bringing down expenses at the second-largest U.S. bank by assets. Under previously announced plans, the bank is pushing to lower its annual noninterest expenses to about $53 billion by the end of 2018.
Bank of America is the latest large U.S. bank to disclose financial results for the third quarter of this year.
Last week, Wells Fargo said its profit rose 32 percent. The fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets maintains its largest employment hub in Charlotte.
Citigroup, the third-largest U.S. bank by assets, said its profit increase approximately 12 percent from a year earlier. JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank, reported a roughly 24 percent increase in profit. Both are based in New York.
