Bank of America profits beat expectations

The run of good luck is continuing among US banks as Bank of America is the latest to exceed

analysts expectations after it made a net profit of $4.24 billion for the three months ending 31 March – almost triple that of a year ago of $1.21 billion.

The bank, which is the largest in the US by assets, said revenues rose to a record $36 billion, while earnings were boosted by the bank’s acquisition of Wall Street investment bank Merrill Lynch, completed earlier this year. The acquisition contributed $3.7 billion.

Furthermore, its acquisition of Count

rywide Financial Corp. also enhanced income, as mortgage lending and refinancing increased.

Bank of America said the two acquisitions had contributed “outstanding performances” and are driving profit at the bank.

The results follow those already reported by US banks including Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, who have all announced better-than-expected first quarter results.