Bank of America Corp. reported a fall in its first-quarter profit Friday, in part due to lower mortgage-banking activity -- but its results handily beat Wall Street expectations.
First-quarter net income was $3.2 billion, or 28 cents a share, versus $4.2 billion, or 44 cents a share, a year earlier, Bank of America /quotes/comstock/13*!bac/quotes/nls/bac (BAC 18.31, +0.01, +0.06%) said.
Revenue at the bank fell 11% year-on-year to $32 billion, driven by what it said were the absence of credit-related gains on Merrill Lynch-structured notes that it had enjoyed last year, as well lower mortgage-banking volume and income.
First-quarter provision for credit losses was $9.8 billion, down from $13.4 billion in the first quarter of 2009.