Bank of America said it returned to profit in the first quarter of this year, reporting better than expected net income of 3.2 billion dollars.
The largest US bank returned to the black after losing 194 million dollars in the last quarter of 2009, as the company battled to repay a massive government bailout and against a crushing recession.
Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan said the firm, and the economy, had now turned a corner.
“With each day that passes, the 2010 story appears to be one of continuing credit recovery, and our results reflect a gradually improving economy,” he said.
The bank suffered heavy loses in 2009 as it battled to payoff a 45-billion-dollar government loan that helped it weather the financial crisis.
For all of 2009 the bank had a profit of 6.3 billion dollars, but for shareholders the results was a loss of 2.2 billion dollars after final payments to the US Treasury.
The group repaid the entire bailout in December, after raising fresh capital in the markets.
Bank of America’s latest earnings were the most recent bit of good news for Wall Street, which earlier saw JPMorgan post stellar results.
Copyright © 2010 AFP
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