Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) disclosed their earnings results earlier today, and the firm disclosed the second straight quarterly loss.
Driven by writedowns in the value of its mortgage business, the firms results continue to sag behind competitors, and investor expectations. At the height of the financial crisis, Ken Lewis, the Chief Executive that preceded current CEO Brian Moynihan made two large bets, acquiring Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch.
The Countrywide division continues to saddle BofA with mortgage woes, as loan losses continue to mount. In the fourth quarter, the bank recognized a $2 billion writedown in value of its mortgage business, and a $4.1 billion provision for future mortgage repurchase claims.
Moynihan commented through a prepared statement that “Last year was a necessary repair and rebuilding year. Our results reflect the progress we are making at putting legacy — primarily mortgage-related — issues behind us.”
The bank posted a fourth quarter shareholder loss of $1.57 billion, or 16 cents a share, compared with a loss of $5.2 billion, or 60 cents a share, a year earlier. Last year’s results included a one-time Troubled Asset Relief Program-related charge of $4 billion. Excluding the mortgage business writedown, the bank earned $756 million, or 4 cents per share. Analysts projected earnings of 14 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters.
