Bank of America profit rises 6.6 percent as bond trading picks up

Bank of America Corp , the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, reported its first rise in profit in three quarters on Monday, boosted by strong results from bond trading.

Net income attributable to shareholders rose 6.6 percent to $4.45 billion in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, from $4.18 billion a year earlier.

Earnings per share rose to 41 cents from 38 cents in the same period of 2015.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of 34 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the figures were comparable.

Revenue from fixed-income trading jumped 32 percent, boosted by Brexit-inspired volatility and changing expectations for monetary policy in the United States, Europe and Japan.

Non-interest expenses fell 3.3 percent to $13.48 billion. BofA, like its peers, has been slashing costs to help make up for weak income from lending after years of low interest rates.

Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said in July the bank would cut annual costs by another $5 billion by 2018, which would take the total to about $53 billion from about $58 billion in 2015.

The three other big U.S. banks that have reported third-quarter results all beat profit and revenue forecasts. However, their earnings also declined - JPMorgan Chase & Co's by 7.6 percent, Citigroup Inc's by 10.5 percent and Wells Fargo & Co's by 3.7 percent.

(Reporting by Richa Naidu in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr)