Bank of America's Q4 profit falls 18% to $5.47 bn but tops Street views

Bank of America says its Q4 profit fell nearly 18 per cent to $5.47 billion from $6.99 billion a year earlier.
 
The bank, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said Tuesday that it had earnings of 59 cents per share, down from 74 cents a year ago.
 
The results, however, surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 56 cents per share.
 

Firm plans to buy back $2.9-billion stock this quarter
 
The firm said it plans to repurchase $2.9 billion worth of stock this quarter, the most it can under new Federal Reserve guidelines. The buybacks come on top of its 18-cent dividend and $300 million in repurchases that offset stock awards, the bank said Tuesday in a statement that came ahead of its fourth-quarter results. BofA said it had $36 billion more in capital than was needed to meet its minimum requirements.