The Bank of America reported a significant decline in profit for the first quarter, caused by lower interest income and increased provisions for credit losses. The US financial institution announced on Tuesday in Charlotte that the surplus dropped by 18 percent compared to the same period last year, down to 6.7 billion dollars (approximately 6.3 billion euros). Additionally, the bank had to deposit 700 million US dollars into the deposit insurance fund.

While higher interest rates had driven banks' profits in previous years, a weakening of this trend is now emerging. Bank of America's net interest income fell three percent to $14 billion in the first quarter. Although revenues in the fund business and the in-house investment bank have increased, they could not offset the decline: the group's total revenues fell by just under two percent to $25.8 billion.

Subsequently, the Bank of America stock experienced a decline of 3.24 percent to $34.79 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).