Bank Of America Earnings 4Q 2011: Bank Brought In $2 Billion Profit

PALLAVI GOGOI 01/19/12 10:08 AM ET Associated Press
NEW YORK — Bank of America made $2 billion in the last three months of last year, reversing a loss from a year earlier. It offset legal expenses over mortgages and losses in its investment banking business by selling debt and its stake in a Chinese bank.

The bank said Thursday that it made 15 cents per share in the fourth quarter. That fell short of the 22 cents expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet, a provider of financial data, but was in line with other estimates.

For the year, the bank made $1.4 billion. It lost $2.2 billion in 2010.

Bank of America has been raising cash by selling pieces of itself that don’t fit into its basic banking model. The strategy was also a way to prepare for a Federal Reserve stress test, which is under way, and meet international regulatory standards.

“We enter 2012 stronger and more efficient after two years of simplifying and streamlining our company,” CEO Brian Moynihan said.

Bank of America’s results are considered a gauge of the health of the American consumer. The bank serves about half of American households. The results showed that housing continues to remain a concern in the economy.

Bank of America’s real estate business lost $1.5 billion after a 74 percent decline in new home loans. The bank lost some market share and closed a division that helped third-party home lenders.

But Americans seemed to be getting their financial houses in order by paying off more debt on time.

Bank of America, one of the largest credit card issuers, said customers who paid bills a month late declined for the 11th consecutive quarter. New credit card accounts also grew 53 percent, and the division posted a profit of $1 billion.

Already dealing with an image problem after the 2008 financial crisis, Bank of America caused an uproar last fall when it announced a $5 monthly fee for its debit cards. The bank quickly backed off.

Banks have been raising all types of customer fees. They say they need to make up lost revenue because a federal law that took effect last year caps what banks can charge stores for purchases paid for with the swipe of a debit card.

The $2 billion net income for the fourth quarter compared with a $1.2 billion loss in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue was $25.1 billion, up 11 percent and higher than the $23.7 billion estimated by FactSet.

The bank made $2.9 billion by selling its stake in China Construction Bank and $2.4 billion more selling debt and exchanging its higher-cost preferred stock for common stock.

Bank of America stock was clobbered for two years and lost more than 60 percent of its value. But the market seems to like what Moynihan is doing. The stock has soared 23 percent in 2012.

On Thursday, it climbed 28 cents after the earnings report to $7.08. Bank of America stock has not closed above $7 since Oct. 28.

The bank set aside $1.5 billion for litigation expenses, mostly related to fighting lawsuits from mortgage loans.

Bank of America’s investment banking business reported a loss of $433 million due to lower investment banking fees and lower sales and trading driven by the rocky stock and bond markets in the last three months of the year.

Bank of America Destroyed my Credit beacuse they are incapable of simple math Simi Valley, California

I had a credit card with BofA since 2008 and they purchased my mortgage about a year ago. Because they miscalculated my escrow amount, they were overcharging me monthly causing my escrow account to be thousands of dollars in excess of the amount needed for taxes and insurance. I notified them of the overpayments and asked them to re-calculate my payment to no avail. After my house was re-assessed at a lower value, I knew that my escrow payments were significantly over the taxes I needed tp pay. BofA still would not adjust my payments. So when I made my next payment, it was on time but just the full amount of my principal and interest (not the escrow).

They sent me back a check in the mail for my payment with a notice that they do not accept partial payments. By the time, I received the mortgage payment back, weeks later it was already past the due date and they had notified the credit bureaus that I was in default in my mortgage. I immediately sent the payment back with the escrow payment and until the issue was resolved continued to make the incorrect escrow payments. However by that time the damage had already been done.

A month later, I received a check in the mail for $8000 for excess escrow payments for 2011.

A month later, BofA closed my credit card account after I paid the balance in full. When I called to inquire why, they told me my account was closed because of the 30-day late payment on my mortgage- my account was being closed due to the recent “delinquency”.

These people are idiots.

Bank Of America BOA Refused to help us solve credit card problems Bank of America had sent my husband a credit card. He Never activated the card because he has a different card with a different bank. Somehow, the credit card was already activated when we received it not only did my husband call the bank and ask them to close out his account he spoke with the supervisor and told them what happened. The supervisor promised to close out my husbands account and said that they would send him a new card on a different account. Well, my husbands new account said that he owes $8,500. He reported fraud on the old account because he NEVER used the card and he never activated the card. The bank refuses to help us with the fraud case and says that we have to pay them for their mistake.

Bank of America Dispute Resolution Services Brother victimized by debit card thief / Bank of America won’t return money Phoenix, Arizona
provide “insider information” on this company?

My brother, Edward, was the victim of debit card theft. His card number was used in ATMs without his authorization, including out-of-state. When he realized what happened, he filed a report with the Billerica, MA Police Department and submitted it to Bank of America for investigation. Bank of America officials assured him that his money would be returned since he was the victim of a crime. He is physically disabled and this SSDI money in his account is all that he has to live on.

A few days later, he receives a letter informing him that the charges were “authorized” and billed against his account correctly. This is not possible. One of the charges was made in New York City at an ATM and he has never been to New York in his life! Bank of America will not return his money, so he has been victimized twice. He was even charged ATM fees for the thief’s use of his ATM card. Bank of America refuses to be reasonable about this and they went back on their promise to return his money. There is no way that he can pay his rent now and faces eviction. This is unbelievable and absolutely wrong! This company cannot be trusted. This is how they treat the disabled.

JP Morgan Chase Wamu I had a credit card with Wamu….The company switched to Chase, They said they sent me a new contract that I never received in which I did not opt out of so they raised my intrest to 29.99% Manhattan , New York

Corporate Advocacy Program I had a credit card from Wamu that was eventually bought out by Chase. During this transition (according to Chase) they sent me a letter in which I had a choice to opt out of a new contract that I was never even aware of. I never received any information about this and I had no idea they could do such a thing. In this new contract my interest rates changed from 11.99% to 29.99% and additional charges were added to my contract. I contacted the company on several occasions and they insisted that I was sent a letter in the mail. After arguing with the company about this policy they told me that it was a mistake in which my interest rates would be corrected.

The same month in 2009 that all this occurred they said I had a late payment…This is a total fabrication…..To this day I pay 29.99% on my credit card and for 3 years I have never missed a payment. They still tell me that they will not lower my interest rate. They have been extremely rude to my inquires about my account, they have stolen 1000′s of dollars from me and I can no longer stand by . I am willing to swear in court,write as many letters as possible, or sacrifice my time and money to make sure this does not happen to anyone else. I seek justice against the company and have decided to contact a lawyer. I was told that I maybe able to file a lawsuit with no personal expense but I must first acquiring resources and file complaints with origination like yours. I have no doubt that this matter will fall under def ears from Chase. Its time someone stood up to these people.

Chase Bank/Ink Credit Card Rip Off Internet
*Consumer Comment: Are you seriously kidding?

Corporate Advocacy Program Banks are ticked because they were forced to roll back the $5.00/month debit fee but I might have discovered a new rip off scheme.

I think Chase bank holds up mailing the credit card statement until the due date, but the time you get the mail is already past the date so you will automatically be charged late fees and interest.

for over 40 years I paid my credit card before the due date and paid it in full to avoid finance charges, I guess Chase decided it was not making any interest from me so they decided to rip me off even though I threatened to cancel my account, the person I talked to was more than happy to cancel the account what makes me believe it was done on purpose.

Bank Of America, JP Morgan Chase, Bear Stearns, Citigroup, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo Unreasonable interest rate hikes, Unreasonable credit limit reductions, ruining my FICO scores, rude telephone behavior Internet

Corporate Advocacy Program After 10 years of no late payments, payoffs, and an overall increase in my FICO scores, JP Morgan Chase slashed my available credit on my credit card account $5000. This caused my FICO score to go from one point under Excellent to Fair.

Also, they raised my interest rate almost 50%. With my credit history I believe my interest rate should have been lowered and not raised. I also believe I should have had an available credit increase, and not decreased by approximately 1/3.

When I contacted customer service, the agent told me I could pay off my credit card, close my account, and do business somewhere else any time I chose. In other words, if you don’t like the way we do business, take a hike!

I believe that since my payment history was too good for them to make other outrageous late payment and over the limit fees, that they gave the $5000 credit limit they took from me to someone else that could be victimized by their vicious, ridiculous penalties. They government (we tax payers) help JP Morgan Chase take over, steal, or practically give them WaMU, plus bail out money and they do this.

Is it any wonder that today Bloomberg reports that JP Morgan Chase’s profits are up 7 fold?

Did you know that Chase, Wells Fargo, & Bank of America have a combined $45 BILLION in ‘secret life insurance policies’ on their employees…
AUTHOR: Karl – Highlands Ranch (USA)
SUBMITTED: Saturday, October 02, 2010

POSTED: Saturday, October 02, 2010
and ‘death sweeps’ are performed to see if any of these current & former employees died?

You can ‘Google’ this- BANK EXECUTIVES PROFITING ON THE DEATH OF EMPLOYEES, and read where Wells Fargo and Bank of America each have $17 BILLION in these policies. Chase has $11 BILLION.

Then ‘Google’ this- BANK OF AMERICA COMPLAINTS SECRET LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES, and read the related articles on the web.

$17 BILLION + $17 BILLION + $11 BILLION = $45 BILLION!

Try to imagine a pile of cash that equals $1 Million.

Now try to imagine 1,000 piles of cash that each contain $1 Million.

That’s $1 BILLION.

Now try to imagine 45,000 piles of cash that each contain $1 Million.

That’s $45 BILLION!

Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property – until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

Bank of America agreed to pay $335 million to resolve allegations that its Countrywide unit engaged in a widespread pattern of discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers on home loans.

The settlement with the U.S. Justice Department was filed Tuesday with the Central District court of California and is subject to court approval. The DOJ says it’s the largest settlement in history over residential fair lending practices.

According to the DOJ’s complaint, Countrywide charged over 200,000 African-American and Hispanic borrowers higher fees and interest rates than non-Hispanic white borrowers with a similar credit profile. The complaint says that these borrowers were charged higher fees and rates because of their race or national origin rather than any other objective criteria.

“These institutions should make judgments based on applicants’ creditworthiness, not on the color of their skin,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “With today’s settlement, the federal government will ensure that the more than 200,000 African-American and Hispanic borrowers who were discriminated against by Countrywide will be entitled to compensation.”

Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp. bought the nation’s largest subprime lender, Countrywide Financial Corp., in 2008.

Dan Frahm, a Bank of America spokesman, said in a statement that the bank does not practice lending based on race.

“We discontinued Countrywide products and practices that were not in keeping with our commitment and will continue to resolve and put behind us the remaining Countrywide issues,” Frahm said.

The United States’ complaint says that Countrywide was aware that the fees and interest rates that its loan officers were charging discriminated against African-American and Hispanic borrowers, but failed to impose meaningful limits or guidelines to stop it.

By steering borrowers into subprime loans from 2004 to 2007, the complaint alleges, Countrywide harmed those qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers. Subprime loans generally carried costlier terms, such as prepayment penalties and significantly higher adjustable interest rates that increased suddenly after two or three years, making the payments unaffordable and leaving the borrowers at a much higher risk of foreclosure.

“Countrywide’s actions contributed to the housing crisis, hurt entire communities, and denied families access to the American dream,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

The settlement amount will be used to compensate victims of Countrywide’s discriminatory mortgage loans from 2004 through 2007, when Countrywide originated millions of residential mortgage loans as the nation’s largest single-family mortgage lenders.

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