Bank of America posts 45% decline in first quarter profit, braces for big loan losses

Bank of America said Wednesday that first quarter profit slumped 45% as the company set aside $3.6 billion for loan loss reserves because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The bank posted profit of $4.01 billion, or 40 cents a share, compared with the 46 cent estimate of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. Revenue of $22.8 billion essentially matched expectations, and trading results exceeded expectations by more than $500 million. 

The pandemic caused sharp drops in profit at three of Bank of America’s four main divisions. 

“Our results reflect the strength of our balance sheet, the diversity of our earnings, and the resilience of our teammates to serve clients around the world,” CEO Brian Moynihan said in the release. “Despite increasing our loan loss reserves, we earned $4 billion this quarter.”

On Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo both posted sharp drops in first-quarter profit as the banks set aside a combined $10 billion for a coming deluge of loan defaults. At JPMorgan, the hits were partly offset by record quarterly trading revenue.

That was also the case at Bank of America, where fixed income traders produced $2.7 billion in revenue, about $200 million more than expected and equities traders generated $1.7 billion in revenue, about $300 million more than expected. 

Bank stocks have been pummeled this year as the pandemic put an end to the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. Investors have sold shares in anticipation that the industry will bear the brunt of loan defaults from retail customers to big corporate clients.

Here’s how the company did:

Earnings: 40 cents a share

Revenue: $22.8 billion

Net Interest Income: $12.3 billion

Trading Revenue: Fixed Income $2.7 billion, Equities $1.7 billion

Note: Bank added $3.6 billion to loan loss reserves in the quarter

Wall Street had expected earnings per share of 46 cents on revenue of $22.9 billion, based o n the consensus estimates compiled by Refinitiv. Net interest income was expected to come in at $11.7 billion. Trading results at the firm exceeded analysts’ expectations for $2.48 billion in fixed income and $1.39 billion in equities revenue. 

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