Bank of America Corp on April 20 said first-quarter profit rose 13.5 percent, topping Wall Street forecasts, helped by record investment banking fees and trading profit and the purchase of credit card issuer MBNA Corp.
Net income at the No 2 US bank rose to $4.99 billion from a restated $4.39 billion a year earlier.
Profit per share was unchanged at $1.07, and totalled $1.08, excluding merger and restructuring costs. Analysts polled by Reuters Estimates on average had forecast $1 per share.
Revenue increased 31 percent to $17.94 billion, beating Wall Street's average estimate of $17.2 billion, while expenses rose just 26 percent to $8.92 billion. Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis said the bank has "strong momentum" in all businesses.
"Results look very good," said analyst Craig Woker of Morningstar Inc in Chicago. "Revenue growth is strong, and when you couple that with keeping costs in check, you had positive operating leverage. They're (also) benefiting from a temporary but healthy uptrend in investment banking."
Bank of America shares rose 43 cents to $46.48 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Trading profit surged 57 percent to $1.07 billion, while rising advisory fees and securities underwriting helped drive investment banking income up 40 percent to $522 million.
Rivals such as Citigroup Inc, the largest US bank, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc also posted stronger quarterly results in these areas.
On the consumer side, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America added a net 483,000 savings accounts and 603,000 checking accounts, giving it more than 54 million combined.
"We're seeing no cracks at all in the health of the consumer borrower," Chief Financial Officer Alvaro de Molina said in an interview.
He said this might change if oil prices rise too high, or consumers grow less willing to borrow against their homes.
Quarterly results were the first to reflect the $34.2 billion MBNA acquisition, which occurred on January 1 and made Bank of America the largest US credit card issuer. Cards accounted for more than one-fourth of profit and revenue.
Bank of America has already eliminated about 2,000 jobs out of a planned 6,000 following the merger and ended March with 202,500 employees.
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