Bank of America Reports $6.2 Billion 3rd Quarter Net

Lost $7.3 Billion Q3 2010

October 18, 2011 07:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

• Credit Costs Continue to Decrease With Net Charge-Offs Declining Across Most Portfolios
• Strong Capital Generation With Tier 1 Common Equity Ratio at 8.65 Percent
• Average Deposit Balances Increased for the Fourth Consecutive Quarter
• Growth in Corporate Banking Average Core Loan Balance Across All Regions
• Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) Was Ranked No. 2 Globally in Net Investment Banking Fees in the Third Quarter of 2011
• Customer Solutions Pilot Program Showing Positive Results

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bank of America Corporation today reported net income of $6.2 billion, or $0.56 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2011, compared with a net loss of $7.3 billion, or $0.77 per diluted share, in the year-ago period. Revenue, net of interest expense, on a fully taxable-equivalent (FTE) basis¹ rose 6 percent to $28.7 billion.

“Our focus this quarter was on strengthening the balance sheet by selling non-core assets and building capital to position the company for future growth”

There were a number of significant items that affected results in both periods. The most recent quarter included, among other things, $4.5 billion (pretax) in positive fair value adjustments on structured liabilities, a pretax gain of $3.6 billion from the sale of shares of China Construction Bank (CCB), $1.7 billion pretax gain in trading Debit Valuation Adjustments (DVA), and a pretax loss of $2.2 billion related to private equity and strategic investments, excluding CCB. The fair value adjustment on structured liabilities reflects the widening of the company’s credit spreads and does not impact regulatory capital ratios. The year-ago quarter included a $10.4 billion goodwill impairment charge. Details on the significant items are included in the revenue and expense section of this press release.

“This quarter’s results reflect several actions we took that highlight our ongoing transformation toward becoming a leaner, more focused company,” said Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan. “The diversity and depth in our customer and client offerings provided some resiliency in a very challenging environment.”

“Our focus this quarter was on strengthening the balance sheet by selling non-core assets and building capital to position the company for future growth,” said Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson. “In that regard, we accomplished a great deal. We reduced the size of our balance sheet by $42 billion from the second quarter of 2011, nearly doubled our Tier 1 common equity ratio since early 2009, and continued to have strong liquidity levels even after significantly reducing both short- and long-term debt.”

Making progress on operating principles

During the third quarter of 2011, the company made significant progress in line with its operating principles, including the following developments:

Focus on customer-driven businesses

• Bank of America extended approximately $141 billion in credit in the third quarter of 2011, according to preliminary data. This included $85 billion in commercial non-real estate loans, $33 billion in residential first mortgages, $10 billion in commercial real estate loans, $5 billion in U.S. consumer and small business card, $847 million in home equity products and $7 billion in other consumer credit.

• The $33 billion in residential first mortgages funded in the third quarter helped over 151,000 homeowners either purchase a home or refinance an existing mortgage. This included approximately 12,000 first-time homebuyer mortgages originated by retail channels, and more than 54,000 mortgages to low- and moderate-income borrowers. Approximately 47 percent of funded first mortgages were for home purchases and 53 percent were refinances.
• Total average deposit balances of $1.05 trillion were up $77 billion, or 8 percent from the year-ago period, and $15 billion, or 1 percent higher than the second quarter of 2011.
• The number of net new consumer and small business checking accounts was positive for the third consecutive quarter as the company continued to focus on the retention of profitable customer relationships.
• Bank of America launched Customer Solutions earlier this year as a pilot in certain markets for new customers. The company has been successfully converting select customers in those markets with favorable results as many customers are willing to increase their balances to achieve account benefits.
• Bank of America continued to expand its service for small business owners by hiring nearly 500 locally based small business bankers through the third quarter of 2011 to provide convenient access to financial advice and solutions. The company plans to hire more than 1,000 small business bankers by early 2012.
• Referral volumes remained strong during the third quarter with referrals from Global Wealth and Investment Management to Global Banking and Markets up 28 percent from the year-ago quarter, and referrals from Global Wealth and Investment Management to Global Commercial Banking up 6 percent from the same period.
• Global Wealth and Investment Management added 475 Financial Advisors in the quarter.

Building a fortress balance sheet

• Regulatory capital ratios increased significantly during the third quarter compared to the second quarter of 2011, with the Tier 1 common equity ratio at 8.65 percent, the tangible common equity ratio² at 6.25 percent and the common equity ratio at 9.50 percent at September 30, 2011.
• The company took advantage of its strong liquidity position to reduce short-term debt by $17 billion and long-term debt by $28 billion during the third quarter. The parent company’s time-to-required funding increased to 27 months from 22 months in the second quarter of 2011.
• The company continued to strengthen the balance sheet by reducing risk-weighted assets by $33 billion from the second quarter of 2011 and $117 billion from the third quarter of 2010.

Pursuing operational excellence in efficiency and risk management

• Earlier this year, the company launched Project New BAC, a comprehensive initiative designed to simplify and streamline the company and align expenses. Implementation of Phase 1 ideas began this month with a goal of reducing expenses by approximately $5 billion per year by 2014, on a baseline of approximately $27 billion in annual expenses for the business areas reviewed in Phase 1. The company expects to incur technology and severance costs during the implementation of Phase 1. The New BAC Phase 2 review began this month and is expected to continue into early 2012 and cover the balance of businesses and operations that were not reviewed in Phase 1.
• The provision for credit losses declined 37 percent from the year-ago quarter, reflecting improved credit quality across most consumer and commercial portfolios and underwriting changes implemented over the last several years.
• The allowance for loan and lease losses to annualized net charge-off coverage ratio remained strong in the third quarter of 2011 at 1.74 times, compared to 1.53 times in the third quarter of 2010 (1.33 times compared to 1.34 times excluding purchased credit-impaired loans).

Delivering on the shareholder return model

• The company continued to focus on streamlining the balance sheet by selling non-core assets, addressing legacy issues, reducing debt and implementing its customer-focused strategy while focusing on expenses to position the company for long-term growth.
• Tangible book value per share² rose to $13.22 in the third quarter of 2011, compared to $12.91 in the third quarter of 2010 and $12.65 in the second quarter of 2011. Book value per share was $20.80 in the third quarter of 2011 compared to $21.17 in the third quarter of 2010 and $20.29 in the second quarter of 2011.

Continuing to address legacy issues

• Since the start of 2008, Bank of America and legacy Countrywide have completed nearly 961,000 loan modifications with customers. During the third quarter of 2011, more than 52,000 loan modifications were completed, compared with 69,000 in the second quarter of 2011 and 50,000 in the third quarter of 2010.
• During the quarter, Bank of America successfully implemented the rollout of a single point of contact in the default servicing business. More than 6,500 employees have now been trained and deployed in these client relationship management roles.

¹ Fully taxable-equivalent (FTE) basis is a non-GAAP measure. For reconciliation to GAAP measures, refer to pages 25-27 of this press release. Total revenue, net of interest expense on a GAAP basis was $28.5 billion for the three months ended September 30, 2011.

² Tangible common equity ratio and tangible book value per share of common stock are non-GAAP measures. Other companies may define or calculate these measures differently. For reconciliation to GAAP measures, refer to pages 25-27 of this press release.