XLF, Banking and Financial Sector Stocks: BAC (B of A) Earnings Per Share Rise 35%

» Kirk - BAC (B of A) Earnings Per Share Rise 35%

Bank of America Operating Earnings Per Share Rise 35% to $1.23 In The Fourth Quarter; 1999 Operating Earnings Per Share up 29% to $4.68

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000118/nc_bofa_ea_1.html

Key:

Fourth Quarter Earnings (compared to a year ago)

Revenue rose 11 percent, paced by significant improvements in every fee- based business, especially investment banking, trading, mortgage banking and card income. Meanwhile, expenses and provision expense were lower. The completion of annual tax planning strategies resulted in a lower effective tax rate. Operating earnings represented an 18 percent return on common equity.

Lets see…expenses going down and income going up. Sounds like a real problem to me….NOT!

Efficiency

Noninterest expense decreased 3 percent to $4.55 billion, reflecting cost reductions resulting from recent mergers, somewhat offset by continued spending on technology-related projects associated with the merger of NationsBank and BankAmerica and higher incentive payments associated with the build out of the investment banking platform. The efficiency ratio was 56 percent, an improvement of 825 basis points.

Full-Year Earnings

Results for the year also reflected favorable operating leverage created by a 6 percent increase in revenue combined with a 4 percent reduction in expenses and a lower tax rate. The return on equity rose more than 300 basis points to 18 percent.

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BTW, my cousin's husband works there. I talked to him Sunday and he is 100% invested and looks for good times to continue. His opinion of marketimers is not high either. He said biggest complaint is their stock options are not in the money due to troubles last year.

-- posted by Kirk