Bank of America posts slim profit despite settlement, charges

Bank of America Corp reported on Wednesday a $340 million third-quarter profit as a legal settlement and other previously disclosed charges dented its bottom line.

The second-biggest U.S. bank said the slim net profit amounted to nil per share and compared with $6.2 billion, or 56 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier, when the sale of assets and accounting benefits boosted earnings.

Bank of America last month agreed to pay $2.4 billion to settle claims that it had hidden crucial information from shareholders when it bought investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co at the height of the financial crisis. The bank denied the allegations.