Bank of America profit more than halves in Q2 as heavy loan losses loom

The fall in revenue and profit was broadly in line with other Main Street peers that have suffered from the need to brace for a deep recession

Bank of America Corp saw its profit more than halve in the second quarter as it set aside $5 billion to cover potential loan losses, while warning that it would struggle as long as interest rates stayed low.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender is especially vulnerable to rate movements because of the composition of its balance sheet and at least one analyst expressed concern about its net interest income, down 11 per cent.

Shares in the bank fell about 4 per cent in response to the results.

"When both long term and short term interest rates are at their historical