NEW YORK, Oct 16 – Bank of America on Friday announced a steeper-than-expected net loss of 1.0 billion dollars in the third quarter, linked to hefty writedowns of assets from Merrill Lynch and other charges.
The total loss for shareholders was even larger, at 2.24 billion dollars, or 26 cents per share, worse than had been expected by most analysts.
The company paid special dividends of 1.2 billion dollars, including 893 million to the US government for its capital injections.
The largest US bank by assets said its results were "negatively impacted by continued weakness in the US and global economies and stress on the consumer, which continues to result in high credit costs."
