BofA reports $1.99B fourth-quarter profit

NEW YORK – Bank of America Corp., the second-largest U.S. lender, swung to a fourth-quarter profit as the company sold assets and built capital faster than expected, Bloomberg News reported last week.
Net income was $1.99 billion, or 15 cents a diluted share, compared with a loss of $1.24 billion, or 16 cents, a year earlier, according to a statement Thursday from the Charlotte, N.C.-based firm. The results were boosted by one-time gains on asset sales and reserve releases.
CEO Brian T. Moynihan, 52, is cutting holdings, expenses and staff while raising capital to meet demands from regulators for a larger cushion against losses. So far, $50 billion in assets are gone, and Moynihan’s Project New BAC will eliminate at least 30,000 jobs as the firm seeks to save $5 billion annually. He’s also aiming to quell disputes over faulty mortgages that have cost the bank about $40 billion.
Tier 1 capital, a measure of ability to absorb losses, surged to 9.86 percent from 8.65 percent in the third quarter. In December, the lender indicated capital would improve to about 9.2 percent. Revenue gained 11 percent to 25.1 billion. For the year, Bank of America said it earned $1.4 billion, compared with a $2.2 billion loss in 2010, as revenue dropped 15 percent. &#8226