Bank of America reports huge drop in profits in Q3 2014

Bank of America has reported a net profit of $168 million in Q3 2014, down from $2.5 billion a year earlier.

Total revenue was $21.4 billion.

The huge drop in profits was due to a previously announced $5.3 billion mortgage-related settlement with the Department of Justice and other federal agencies.

Most areas of the business improved profitability compared with a year ago.

“We saw solid customer and client activity and improved profitability in most of our businesses relative to the year-ago quarter,” said Bank of America’s chief executive Brian Moynihan.

The bank’s property business posted a loss of $5.2 billion, compared with a loss of $990 million a year earlier.

Profits at the asset management arm rose slightly to $813 million, while those at the global banking division rose by a quarter to $1.4 billion.

The global markets business turned a loss of $875 million to a profit of $769 million.

On October 14, rival JP Morgan reported a profit of $5.6 billion for Q3 2014, while Citigroup posted a $3.4 billion profit.