By Joe Rauch and Maria Aspan
CHARLOTTE, N.C./NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp
As with JPMorgan Chase & Co
"The question is, how are they going to generate earnings aside from dropping the reserve to the bottom line?" asked Keith Davis, financial sector analyst at Farr, Miller & Washington.
Citi shares slumped nearly 2 percent to $4.08 in premarket trading, while Bank of America shares fell 4.4 percent to $14.71.
"Economic conditions remain challenging and global regulatory frameworks are uncertain," Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said in a statement.
Bank of America said its credit costs declined for the fourth straight quarter. Its provision for credit losses was $8.1 billion, down $1.7 billion from the first quarter and down $5.3 billion from a year earlier.
During the quarter, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank recognized $1.1 billion in pretax gains from sales of noncore assets, including its main investment stakes in two Latin American banks -- Itau Unibanco and Santander Mexico.
Bank of America reported net income of $3.1 billion, or 27 cents a share, down from $4.3 billion, or 49 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected 22 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Citigroup reported its second consecutive profitable quarter, posting net income of $2.7 billion, or 9 cents a share, down from $4.3 billion, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected 5 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It could not immediately be determined if the analysts' estimate was comparable to the bank's earnings of 9 cents a share.
JPMorgan on Thursday reported a second-quarter profit of $4.8 billion, up 76 percent from a year earlier.
(Reporting by Joe Rauch and Maria Aspan; additional reporting by Elinor Comlay; editing by John Wallace)
