Investors are relieved after Bank of America reports a profit

Last year, Bank of America had to settle with breaking even, but the bank finally reported a profit for the third quarter. CEO Brian Moynihan said in a release: “The economy and business climate will improve even more quickly as conditions normalize, and we are well positioned to benefit from that.”

Bank of America did better than analysts had predicted for its profit, but it did not meet revenue forecasts. Like most other banks, the decrease in mortgage lending hurt Bank of America’s revenues. It reported earnings of 20 cents per share on revenues of $22 billion. The bank was able to cut costs, and bring in $800 million from selling its stake in China Construction Bank, and those savings helped create a profit. Bank of America also lowered costs by cutting more than 24,600 jobs, or 9% of employees.

Bank of America did report increased revenues in its consumer banking franchise, partly because of increased use of the bank’s credit and debit cards. Small business lending also rose by 31% from last year.

Bank of America also saw a decrease in business from their global markets, largely because of the slowdown in bond trading.