Bank of America Second-Quarter Profit Climbs

By Rachel Louise Ensign

Bank of America Corp. said Wednesday that second-quarter profit rose.

Quarterly profit at the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, the second-largest in the U.S. by assets, was $7.35 billion, compared with $6.78 billion a year earlier. Per share, earnings were 74 cents. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected 71 cents per share.

Second-quarter revenue was $23.08 billion, up from $22.55 billion a year ago.

Higher interest rates have boosted banks' performance since the Fed started raising them in late 2015. That is because banks were able to charge borrowers more interest without having to significantly increase payouts to depositors.

Bank of America paid 0.77% on U.S. interest-bearing deposits in the second quarter, compared with 0.73% in the first quarter.

But now the Fed is signaling that it will move in the other direction and cut interest rates as soon as this month, clouding the outlook for banks' lending businesses.

Write to Rachel Louise Ensign at rachel.ensign@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 17, 2019 07:10 ET (11:10 GMT)

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