Bank of America says its profits rose 28% last quarter from a year earlier, but the bank faced the same wage inflation as its Wall Street counterparts
By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer
January 19, 2022, 1:31 PM
• 2 min read
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleNEW YORK -- Bank of America said its profits rose 28% last quarter from a year earlier, but the bank faced the same wage inflation as its Wall Street counterparts.
The bank said Wednesday that it earned a profit of $7.01 billion, or 82 cents per share, in the fourth quarter. That's up from a profit of $5.47 billion, or 59 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting the bank to post a profit of 77 cents a share.
The bank, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, saw most of its businesses grow profits in the quarter. But much of the growth was in BofA's investment banking division, which saw profits climb to $2.68 billion from $1.67 billion. Other banks with investment banking businesses saw a strong end to the year, as companies scrambled to close deals or go public.
In BofA's consumer banking business, its largest division by revenue and profits, profits rose to $3.12 billion from $2.59 billion a year earlier. Consumers spent more on the bank's credit and debit cards while expenses were lower.
The bank recently shook up the industry by announcing that it planned to cut overdraft fees to $10 from $35 as well as stop charging a variety of fees that often would impact the bank's poorest customers.
Like its competitors, BofA is facing much higher compensation expenses. The bank spent $36.1 billion on wages and benefits last year, up 10% from a year earlier. BofA joined Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Citi in saying they were expecting to see higher salary costs as they compete for talent.
For the full year, Bank of America posted a profit of $30.56 billion, nearly double the $16.5 billion it earned in 2020 when the pandemic hit the global economy.
