Bank of America (BAC) posted better-than-expected third quarter earnings Monday, with solid net interest income gains offsetting the impact of big jump in provisions for bad loans.
Bank of America said profit for the three months ended in September were tabbed at81 cents per share, down 4.7% from the same period last year and modestly higher than the Street consensus forecast of 77 cents per share.
Group revenues, the bank said, rose 8% from last year to $24.5billion, well north of estimates of a $22.87 billion tally. Net interest income rose 24% to $13.8 billion, the bank said, while total loans were up 12%.
Bank of America said it set aside around $378 million to cover bad loan risk in its portfolio, however, a figure that contrasts sharply with the release of around $1.1 billion in credit loss provisions over the third quarter of last year.
“We continued to see strong organic client growth across our businesses, with increased client activity helping to drive revenue up by 8%," said CEO Brian Moynihan. "Our U.S. consumer clients remained resilient with strong, although slower growing, spending levels and still maintained elevated deposit amounts."
"Across the bank, we grew loans by 12% over the last year as we delivered the financial resources to support our clients," he added. "Our team adapted well to our new capital requirements and improved our CET1 ratio by 49 basis points to 11%, above our new regulatory minimums. I am proud of our teammates’ efforts to deliver for our clients and shareholders.”
Bank of America shares were marked 5.1% higher in early Monday trading immediately following the earnings release to change hands at $33.24 each.
