Bank of America Corporation (the "Corporation") informed its securities holders that it has filed a Current Report on Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on January 19, 2021, announcing financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2020, reporting fourth quarter net income of $5.5 billion, or $0.59 per diluted share, and net income for the year of $17.9 billion, or $1.87 per diluted share.

Q4-20 Financial Highlights1

  • Net income of $5.5 billion, or $0.59 per diluted share
  • Revenue, net of interest expense, decreased 10% to $20.1 billion
    • Net interest income (NII) declined 16% to $10.3 billion, driven by lower interest rates
    • Noninterest income declined 4% to $9.8 billion, reflecting a decline in other income while trading and investment banking results improved
  • Provision for credit losses decreased to $53 million, reflecting a reserve release of $828 million
  • Noninterest expense increased 5% to $13.9 billion, driven primarily by higher net COVID-19 costs
  • Loan and lease balances in the business segments declined $23 billion, or 2%, to $913 billion, driven primarily by lower card balances and declines in commercial loans
  • Deposits rose $327 billion, or 23%, to $1.7 trillion
  • Common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio increased 76 basis points YoY to 11.9% (Standardized)
  • Average Global Liquidity Sources rose $367 billion, or 64%, to $943 billion
  • Book value per common share rose 5% to $28.72; tangible book value per common share rose 6% to $20.602
  • Return on average common shareholders' equity ratio of 8.4%; return on average tangible common shareholders' equity ratio of 11.7%2

Q4-20 Business Segment Highlights1,3

Consumer Banking

  • Net income of $2.6 billion
  • Deposits up 23% to $885 billion; loans down 2% to $305 billion
  • Consumer investment assets up 27% to $306 billion; record client flows of $26 billion since Q4-19
  • Client Support Actions:

— ~343,000 Paycheck Protection Program loans to small business owners in 2020; ~$23 billion in outstanding balances
— Processed ~2 million payment deferrals in 2020, of which ~77,000 were still in place as of December 31

Global Wealth and Investment Management

  • Net income of $836 million
  • Record client balances of more than $3.3 trillion, up 10%, driven by higher market valuations and client flows
  • Deposits up 20% to $306 billion; loans up 7% to $187 billion
  • Merrill added ~22,000 net new households in 2020, and Private Bank added ~1,800 net new relationships in 2020
  • Client Support Actions:

— 77% of Wealth Management clients used online or mobile platforms
— Record 137K WebEx meetings hosted by Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Financial Advisors, nearly 8 times Q4-19 levels
— Private Bank averaged 1,800+ client interactions per day in 2020

Global Banking

  • Net income of $1.7 billion
  • Firmwide investment banking fees (excl. self-led) up 26% to $1.9 billion; record 2020 investment banking fees of $7.2 billion
  • Improved industry ranking for investment banking fees to No. 3 for 2020
  • Deposits up 26% to $478 billion; loans down 8% to $346 billion
  • Client Support Actions:

— Raised $772 billion in capital in 2020 on behalf of clients

Global Markets

  • Net income of $791 million
  • Sales and trading revenue of $3.0 billion, including net debit valuation adjustment (DVA) losses of $56 million
  • Excluding net DVA, sales and trading revenue of $3.1 billion increased 7%, led by Equities
  • Client Support Actions:

— Supported clients by providing liquidity and a strong and resilient trading platform

Bank of America Corporation makes available all of its SEC filings on its website: http://investor.bankofamerica.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=71595&p=irol-irhome.

The SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. These materials may be obtained electronically by accessing the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. A copy of the document will also be available on the National Storage Mechanism's website at: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

1 Financial Highlights and Business Segment Highlights are compared to the year-ago quarter unless noted. Loan and deposit balances are shown on an average basis unless noted.
2 Tangible book value per common share and Tangible common equity ratio represent non-GAAP financial measures.
3 The Corporation reports the results of operations of its four business segments and All Other on a fully-taxable equivalent (FTE) basis.