Bank of America Corporation reported net income of $653 million for the first quarter of 2012. Revenue, net of interest expense, on a fully taxable-equivalent (FTE) basis was $22.5 billion, including negative valuation adjustments related to changes in the company's credit spreads of $4.8 billion pretax.

The results compare to net income of $2.0 billion, in the year-ago quarter on revenue of $27.1 billion when the company reported negative valuation adjustments of $943 million. Excluding the valuation adjustments from both periods, revenue was down 3 percent in the first quarter of 2012 to $27.3 billion.

To follow are selected highlights from the press release:                                                 

• For the quarter ended March 31, 2012, total loans and leases declined 2.6% to $902,294 million versus $926,200 for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 and declined 3.2% versus the quarter ended March 31, 2011.
• The company originated approximately $1.6 billion in small business loans and commitments and hired over 100 small business bankers in the first quarter of 2012 to further support small business customers, bringing the total number of small business bankers hired to more than 700.
• The provision for credit losses declined 37 percent from the year-ago quarter, reflecting improved credit quality across all major consumer and commercial portfolios and the impact of underwriting changes implemented over the past several years.
• The allowance for loan and lease losses to annualized net charge-off coverage ratio was 1.97 times in the first quarter of 2012, compared with 2.10 times in the fourth quarter of 2011 and 1.63 times in the first quarter of 2011. Excluding purchased credit-impaired loans, the allowance to annualized net charge-off coverage ratio was 1.43 times, 1.57 times and 1.31 times for the same periods, respectively.

"By focusing on building strong customer and client relationships, we're doing more business and winning in the marketplace," said Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan. "Our strategy is paying off: With the economy steadily improving and because of the work we have done to strengthen and simplify our company, we saw improved profitability in all of our businesses this quarter compared to the fourth quarter of last year."

To read the full press release and financial results, click here.