Hurt by low rates, Bank of America profits fall 20%, but beat analysts’ expectations

Bank of America’s earnings fell 20% in the second quarter as historically low interest rates make it less profitable to make loans.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based banking giant earned $3.87 billion, or 36 cents per share, before dividends to preferred shareholders. That’s down from $4.8 billion, or 43 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

The results beat analysts’ expectations. Analysts polled by FactSet expected the bank to earn 33 cents per share.

“We had another solid quarter in a challenging environment,” Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said in prepared remarks.

BofA, like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase, continued to struggle in the face of low interest rates. The bank’s profit margin on loans fell to 2.03%, from 2.37% from a year earlier.

The ultra-low interest rates led the bank to take a charge of $1 billion in anticipation of more customers refinancing their mortgages at lower rates, which will mean lower earnings for the bank in the future.

Like its competitors, Bank of America saw a spike in trading revenue in the quarter following the vote by Britain to leave the European Union. Revenue in BofA’s global markets division rose 12% to $3.7 billion. Fixed income, currency and commodity revenues jumped 22%.

Revenue fell to $20.4 billion, from $21.96 billion.

Bank of America’s stock edged up 0.5% in pre-market trading.

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