Bank of America Corporation reported net income of $4.5 billion, or $0.37 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2015, compared to a net loss of $232 million, or $0.04 per share, in the year-ago period.
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Revenue, net of interest expense, on an FTE basis, was $20.9 billion(G), down $521 million from the third quarter of 2014. This was largely driven by higher negative market-related adjustments on the company's debt securities portfolio due to lower long-term interest rates, partially offset by higher positive net debit valuation adjustments (DVA), compared to the year-ago quarter.
The current quarter included $597 million in negative market-related adjustments and $313 million in positive net DVA.
Net interest income, on an FTE basis, was $9.7 billion in the third quarter of 2015, down 7 percent, or $702 million, from the year-ago quarter. Excluding the impact of market-related adjustments, net interest income was $10.3 billion in the third quarter of 2015, compared to $10 billion in the prior quarter and $10.5 billion in the year-ago quarter(G).
The decline from the third quarter of 2014 was driven by lower consumer loan balances and lower yields, partially offset by commercial loan growth and lower long-term debt balances.
Noninterest income was up 2 percent, or $181 million, from the year-ago quarter to $11.2 billion. Results for the most recent quarter reflected year-over-year increases in mortgage banking and card income, higher asset management fees and other income, partially offset by lower capital markets revenue and lower equity investment income.
The provision for credit losses increased $170 million from the third quarter of 2014 to $806 million. Net charge-offs were $932 million in the third quarter of 2015, compared to $1.1 billion in the second quarter of 2015 and $1.0 billion in the third quarter of 2014. The net charge-off ratio improved to 0.42 percent in the third quarter of 2015 from 0.46 percent in the year-ago quarter. The decline in net charge-offs was driven primarily by an improvement in consumer portfolio trends, partially offset by higher commercial charge-offs. The net reserve release was $126 million in the third quarter of 2015, compared to a net reserve release of $407 million in the third quarter of 2014.
Noninterest expense declined $6.3 billion, or 31 percent, from the third quarter of 2014 to $13.8 billion. Excluding litigation expense of $231 million in the third quarter of 2015 and $6.0 billion in the year-ago quarter, noninterest expense decreased 4 percent from the year-ago quarter to $13.6 billion, reflecting lower Legacy Assets and Servicing (LAS) expense(A).
Continued cost management efforts allowed the company to continue to invest in growth opportunities while keeping expenses relatively flat from the prior quarter.
The effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2015 was 26 percent, which included benefits related to the restructuring of certain non-U.S. subsidiaries. ■