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BofA profit hurt by lower bond trading, mortgage banking revenue


    (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, reported a 14 percent fall in quarterly profit as revenue from fixed-income trading and mortgage banking fell.

    Bond trading revenue declined 21 percent to $1.5 billion.

    BofA, like much of Wall Street, was hit by a sharp spike in volatility in bonds in December. JPMorgan Chase & Co reported on Wednesday a decline of 14 percent in bond trading revenue.

    BofA's shares were down 2 percent in premarket trading on Thursday.

    Total revenue fell 13 percent to $18.73 billion, excluding accounting adjustments.

    Net income attributable to common shareholders fell to $2.74 billion, or 25 cents per share, in the fourth quarter from $3.18 billion, or 29 cents per share, a year earlier.

    BofA said it earned $352 million from its mortgage banking business. The bank did not provide the year-earlier figure, but said revenue from mortgage banking was lower in the quarter.

    The bank had adjusted earnings of 32 cents per share, according to calculations by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

    On that basis, analysts on average had estimated earnings of 31 cents per share.

    Overall fixed-income trading has been on a decline since 2009, largely due to new rules that discourage banks from taking unnecessary risks. Several big banks have scaled back their trading operations or quit the business.

    (Reporting by Anil D'Silva in Bangalore and Peter Rudegeair in New York; Editing by Kirti Pandey)