BofA profit beats estimates on investment banking, trading strength
Investment banking fees jumped 18%
Confidence among clients led to more debt, equity issuance
Shares up almost 3%
Adds quotes in paragraph 3-4, 15, updates share price in paragraph 6
By Arasu Kannagi Basil and Nupur Anand
Oct 15 (Reuters) -Bank of America's BAC.N third-quarter profit dropped as it paid more to customers to hold onto their deposits but the earnings beat estimates, propelled by stronger investment banking and trading.
Investment banking fees jumped 18% compared with a year agoto $1.4 billion as confidence among clients improved, spurring them to issue more debt and equity.
"Our customers' deposit balances and asset quality are healthy, and we believe we have good opportunities to grow," Chief Financial Officer Alastair Borthwick told journalists.
Regarding investment banking, Borthwick said, "We feel pretty good looking forward. We've got a good pipeline.
CEO Brian Moynihan called the earnings "solid," citing growth in investment banking, asset management fees and sales and trading revenue.
A revival in mergers and acquisitions has also boosted advisory fees, while the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut last month could spur even more dealmaking.
Shares rose 2.6% in premarket trading.
The earnings echo thoseof rival JPMorgan Chase JPM.N and Wells Fargo WFC.N, whose results last week surpassed expectations, underpinned by improving conditions for investment banking.
BofA's underwriting income jumped 39.7% in the quarter, while syndication fees rose 31%.
Moynihan said last month that heexpected investment banking revenue to be broadly steady.
Sales and trading revenue jumped 12% to $4.9 billion, the 10th consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth, as equities climbed18% while fixed income, currencies and commodities rose 8%.
Equities trading was bolstered by buoyant markets. Stocks rallied in the third quarter as investors speculated that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates and spur economic activity.
BofA's wealth and investment management revenue climbed 8% to $5.8 billion and saw client balances jump 18% to $4.2 trillion, thanks to rising market valuations and client flows.
NII SEEN GROWING
BofA's net interest income (NII) - the difference between what a bank earns on loans and pays out on deposits - fell 3% to $14 billion in the third quarter from a year earlier. But it climbed 2% from the second quarter, marking an inflection point as the bank focuses on growing NII from here, Borthwick said.
"A step in the right direction, and we're optimistic that the uptrend can continue," Chris Kotowski, an analyst at Oppenheimer, wrote in a note.
Banks have been paying out higher interest rates amid intense competition for deposits to prevent customers from fleeing to lucrative alternatives such as money market funds.
BofA's provision for credit losses climbedto $1.5 billion in the quarter from $1.2 billion a year earlier.
Higher interest rates are pressuring borrowers and increasing risks of defaults, prompting banks to build bigger provisions for cover for such loan losses.
Still, U.S. consumer credit is"pretty good," while delinquencies and defaults have flattened out as expected, Borthwick said.
The second-largest U.S. bank's net income fell to $6.9 billion, or 81 cents per share, from $7.8 billion, or 90 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts on average expected BofA to earn 77 cents per share, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.
BofA shares vs benchmark S&P 500 index https://reut.rs/4h8ofro
Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru and Nupur Anand in New York; Editing by Lananh Nguyen, Anil D'Silva and Mark Porter
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
