BofA back in black; logs $5.8 bn profit

In a sign of improving business activities,BofA’s revenue in the September quarter climbed to $28.45 billion from $26.70 billion in the year-ago period.

“The most recent quarter (ended September 2011) included,$4.5 billion (pretax) in positive fair value adjustments on structured liabilities,a pretax gain of $3.6 billion from the sale of shares of China Construction Bank,$1.7 billion pretax gain in trading Debit Valuation Adjustments,” the company said in a statement.

During the quarter,the entity also saw a pre-tax loss of $2.2 billion related to private equity and strategic investments,excluding CCB.

“This quarter’s results reflect several actions we took that highlight our ongoing transformation toward becoming a leaner,more focused company,” said BoFA’s Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan.

“The diversity and depth in our customer and client offerings provided some resiliency in a very challenging environment,” he noted.

BofA had been grappling with problems related to sour assets,arising out of the acquisition of mortgage player Countrywide Financial Corp in 2008. The entity has embarked on various initiatives to boost its overall business.

BoFA’s Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson said the entity has reduced its balance sheet by $42 billion from the 2011 second quarter.

In the third quarter,the bank extended about $141 billion in credit,including $85 billion worth commercial non-real estate loans.