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Bank of America More Than Doubles Profit, Reduces Q1 Provisions | Photo credits: Rob Wilson / Shutterstock.com
April 15 (Reuters) – Bank of America Corp on Thursday reported a jump in first-quarter profits, in part thanks to the reduction in the amount of its provisions to cover potential losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The second largest American has taken back $ 2.7 billion in provisions and announced a $ 25 billion share buyback program, betting like most of the major American banks on an acceleration of growth, fueled by a vaccine campaign very proactive in the United States.
Revenues from retail banking, however, fell 12% to $ 8.1 billion, hurt by weaker demand for loans.
“As low interest rates have continued to weigh on incomes, the costs of credit have improved. We believe that health and economic gains will translate into an acceleration of the recovery.” Bank CEO Brian Moynihan said in a statement.
Bank of America’s pre-tax and pre-provisions profit, seen this quarter as a better indicator of banks’ actual performance, stood at 68 cents per share, according to Refinitiv. Analysts had forecast an average profit of 66 cents per share.
Bank of America profit before tax and before provisions was down 21% from a year ago.
A result that contrasts with that of JPMorgan Chase & Co, which announced for its part an increase of 18% of its profit before provisions in the first quarter. (Noor Zainab Hussain, French version Lucinda Langlands-Perry, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)
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