New York, NY — Bank of America said Monday that its third-quarter profits rose by 32 percent from a year ago, driven by higher interest rates, which allowed BofA to charge more for loans, and a much lower tax rate, helped by last year’s tax law.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based banking giant said it earned a profit of $7.17 billion, or 66 cents a share.
That’s up from $5.42 billion, or 46 cents a share, a year earlier.
The results the forecast of Wall Street analysts, who were looking for BofA to earn 62 cents a share.
Like other big banks that have reported so far this quarter, Bank of America’s quarterly results were driven by higher interest rates and lower taxes.
BofA’s net interest income rose 6 percent from a year earlier to $11.9 billion.
“Responsible growth, backed by a solid U.S. economy and a healthy U.S. consumer, combined to deliver the highest quarterly pretax earnings in our company’s history,” said Brian Moynihan, the bank’s chief executive and chairman, in a statement.