Bank Of America Adds Nearly $1 Billion To Its Bottom Line

REUTERS/Ruben Sprich

Despite a tightening in monetary policy, life doesn’t seem to get any easier for US banks. The central bank in US recently gave its verdict: asking large-cap banks to raise their capital, which caused Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) to get into a tussle with the regulator.

As markets turn bullish on the speculation around interest rate hike, banks in the country have gained much attraction. Following the dip in stock prices after the sell-off in markets around the end of August, optimism among investors saw a sharp decline. However, with the recent development around the matter and the strong economic data that supports Federal Reserve’s targets, markets now look forward to a hike in the upcoming meeting in December.

Bank of America just reported first quarter earnings that beat on the bottom line and missed on the top line. Adjusted earnings per share were $0.36 on revenue of $21.4 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings per share of $0.29 on revenue of $21.6 billion, according to Bloomberg.

(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp expects to reduce its long-term debt by about $40 billion in the second quarter, eliminating interest expense of $230 million per quarter going forward, Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson said. The bank has previously said it has $34 billion in debt maturing in the quarter. It also has taken steps to redeem subordinated debt, trust preferred securities and other securities. "We will look to drive that debt footprint down," Thompson said Tuesday at an investor conference in New York. Reducing interest payments is one way the second-largest U.S. ...

Bank of America is trying to consolidate its executive leadership — and on Tuesday, shareholders will finally have a say in the matter. Last October, the bank handed chief executive Brian Moynihan the additional title of chairman of the board, undoing a 2009 shareholder vote to split the roles.

Bank of America (BAC) Q2 2013 Earnings Call July 17, 2013 8:30 a.m. ET Executives Lee McEntire - Investor Relations Brian Moynihan - President and CEO Bruce Thompson - Chief Financial Officer Analysts Betsy Graseck - Morgan Stanley Matt O’Connor - Deutsche Bank John McDonald - Sanford Bernstein Brennan Hawken - UBS Paul Miller - FBR Capital Markets

Bank of America (BAC) Sanford C. Bernstein 29th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference Call May 30, 2013 14:00 pm ET Executives Brian T. Moynihan – Chief Executive Officer Analysts John E. McDonald – Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC Presentation John E. McDonald – Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC