Bank of America profits rise over 2,000%

Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) posted third-quarter net income of $4.5 billion, a 2,043 percent jump compared to the company’s $232 million net loss in the same quarter a year earlier.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2014, the company’s bottom line was hurt by litigation expenses related to a settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency over allegedly selling troubled mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The company first reported $168 million profits in the third quarter last year, but later adjusted it to a $232 million loss to include further litigation expenses.

In the third quarter this year, the operator of five Bank of America branches in Springfield posted diluted share earnings of 37 cents, compared to a 4-cent share loss in the corresponding quarter in 2014, according to a news release.

“The key drivers of our business - deposit taking and lending to both our consumer and corporate clients - moved in the right direction this quarter and our trading results on behalf of clients remained fairly stable in challenging capital markets conditions,” Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said in the release.

Third-quarter financial notes:
    •    Bank of America’s revenue, net of interest expense, decreased 2.4 percent to $20.9 billion from $21.4 billion last year.
    •    Provision for credit losses was $806 million, up from $636 million.
    •    The company issued 1.3 million new credit cards, a 5 percent increase.

As of Sept. 30, Bank of America held assets of $2.2 trillion and deposits of $1.1 trillion. As of June 30, the company held $400.9 million in deposits, or 4.56 percent of the Springfield metropolitan statistical area market share, ranking it No. 6, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data released last month.

BAC shares were trading at $15.80 as of 9:27 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $14.60 to $18.48.