This photo taken Friday, Oct. 14, 2011, shows the Bank of America logo at a local branch office in Hialeah, Fla. Bank of America said Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011, it earned $6.2 billion in the third-quarter largely from accounting gains and the sale of a stake in a Chinese bank. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
This photo taken Friday, Oct. 14, 2011, shows the Bank of America logo at a local branch office in Hialeah, Fla. Bank of America said Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011, it earned $6.2 billion in the third-quarter largely from accounting gains and the sale of a stake in a Chinese bank. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Bank of America earned $6.2 billion in the third quarter, following a big loss in the same period a year ago. The earnings mostly came from accounting gains and the sale of a stake in a Chinese bank.
Revenue and income from almost all of its businesses fell, including credit cards, real estate, investment banking and trading.
The Charlotte, N.C. bank earned 56 cents per share, following a loss of $7.3 billion, or 77 cents a share in the same quarter last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast the bank would earn 28 cents per share.
Bank of America Corp.'s stock rose 2.8 percent to $6.19 in pre-market trading Tuesday.
The income included accounting gains of $4.5 billion and $1.7 billion, both related to drops in the value of its debt. Bank of America gained $3.6 billion from selling its stake in China Construction Bank and recorded a loss in its private equity business of $2.2 billion as the value of its investments fell.
The sale of its stake in the Chinese bank was part of CEO Brian Moynihan's effort to focus the company and shed non-core businesses. The bank also announced 30,000 job cuts in the quarter as part of an initiative to reduce expenses. Its goal is to reduce expenses by $5 billion a year in the next three years.
Moynihan said in a statement that his mission is to transform Bank of America into a "leaner, more focused company."
The third quarter results were hurt by declines in investment banking and trading from its Merrill Lynch division, which has been an income generator in previous quarters. Turbulent financial markets in the third quarter, brought on by the debt crisis in Europe and a downgrade of the U.S. government's credit rating, kept many investors away and led companies to put off stock and bond offerings.
Bank of America's investment banking and trading business reported a net loss of $302 million, compared to net income of $1.5 billion in the year-ago quarter. Revenue declined 26 percent to $5.2 billion. Fixed income, currency and commodity sales fell by $3.2 billion, while equity trading declined by $201 million. Investment banking fees fell 21 percent to $1.1 billion.
Bank of America's results are considered a proxy for the health of the U.S. consumer because the bank serves about half of all American households. The consumer business results showed that Americans were still holding back spending and demand for loans was low.
The bank's consumer real estate business reported a loss of $1.1 billion, while revenue declined 22 percent to $2.8 billion. The bank said it wrote fewer real estate loans due to lower demand.
One of the largest credit card issuers, Bank of America's revenue from the division dropped 16 percent to $4.5 billion. Customers used less credit than last year, leading to lower income for the bank.
The bank set aside less money for losses as more Americans got their financial houses in order and paid their bills on time. Bank of America's provision for losses from credit cards decreased $2 billion from a year ago to $1 billion.
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