Bank of America posts US$1.2 billion quarterly loss

Bank of America, the biggest US bank, has reported a net loss of US$1.2 billion for the fourth quarter of 2010, citing a hefty charge in its home loans and insurance segment.

21 January 2011, 12:00am

1 min read

The loss was the second consecutive quarterly setback, after a US$7.3 billion loss in the third quarter.

The biggest US bank by assets had returned to profit in the first quarter of the year, after bleeding more than US$2.0 billion in 2009, including a US$194 million loss in the final three months of the year.

For the 2010 full-year, Bank of America reported a net loss of US$2.2 billion, weighed down by a US$12.4 billion charge.

Excluding a fourth-quarter US$2.0 billion charge for goodwill write-down amid the home foreclosures meltdown, Bank of America said it would have earned a profit of US$756 million in the October-December period, and earnings per share of four cents.

That was well below the average analyst estimate of 14 cents per share.

Fourth-quarter revenue fell 11 percent to US$22.67 billion.