BofA traders get boost from market volatility, beat estimates
BNN Bloomberg
Bank of America Corp. joined Wall Street rivals in capitalizing on market volatility while also benefiting from an increase in lending.
Bank of America Corp. joined Wall Street rivals in capitalizing on market volatility while also benefiting from an increase in lending.
The company’s trading operation posted US$4.72 billion in revenue, down just 7.1 per cent from a year earlier after analysts expected a 16 per cent decline. The best results were in the equities business, where revenue soared 9.5 per cent to a record US$2 billion, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said in a statement Monday.
Traders across the U.S. finance industry had a better-than-expected first quarter as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine compounded volatility already simmering on inflation concerns and a lingering pandemic. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley posted surprise increases in trading revenue last week, while Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. also surpassed analysts’ expectations for quarterly results.
Bank of America is focused on its clients and their trading execution “during what has been a very challenging environment,” while having invested “substantially” in that business, Chief Financial Officer Alastair Borthwick said on a call with reporters Monday.
Bank of America shares rose 0.9 per cent to US$37.91 at 8.32 a.m. in early New York trading. They’ve declined 5.8 per cent in the past 12 months, compared with a 5.6 per cent decrease for the KBW Bank Index.
