BofA's profit boosted by surge in trading

REUTERS - Bank of America reported a 44 percent rise in quarterly profit as higher interest rates bulked up earnings from loans and an increase in trading boosted revenue.

The second-largest U.S. bank said net income attributable to shareholders rose to $4.35 billion in the three months ended March 31 from $3.02 billion a year earlier.

Earnings per share rose to 41 cents per share from 28 per share. (http://bit.ly/2px3E6G)

Analysts on average had expected earnings of 35 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the reported figures were comparable.

Total revenue, net of interest expense, rose 7 percent to $22.25 billion.

"We saw good client activity in our balanced portfolio of businesses ... The U.S. economy continues to show consumer and business optimism, and our results reflect that," Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said in a statement.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank's shares were up about 1 percent at $23.05 in premarket trading.

Big U.S. banks have been vitalized by increased market activity prompted by the so-called "Trump trade". They have also benefited from higher interest rates, which the U.S. Federal Reserve has indicated will be raised again this year.

Interest rates were hiked in December and March - a 0.25 percentage point uptick in each case - marking only the second and third raise in seven years, after being kept stagnantly near zero.

Bank of America relies heavily on higher interest rates to maximize profits as it has a large stock of deposits and rate-sensitive mortgage securities.

Higher interest rates increased the amount of money banks can earn from their various loans, known as net interest income. BofA made $11.06 billion as net interest income in the quarter, up 5.5 percent from a year earlier.

JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup last week also reported better-than-expected quarterly profit, driven by increased trading activity.

Excluding special items, the bank's trading activities brought in $4 billion, a 21.2 percent rise.

Revenue from fixed-income trading surged about 29 percent, while equity trading revenue rose about 7 percent, boosted by volatility around the Fed's interest rate hikes.

Bank of America posted record investment banking fees of $1.6 billion.

The lender's non-interest expenses was nearly flat at $14.85 million.

Moynihan said last year he would make trimming costs a top priority and would shrink annual expenses by about an additional $5 billion by 2018.

Up to Monday's close, the bank's stock had risen about 34 percent since President Trump's election on Nov. 8.

(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru and Dan Freed in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)