Bank of America has reported a 9.8% rise in profit for the final quarter of the year, helped by lower expenses despite revenue growth remaining sluggish.
Bank of America, the second biggest US bank by assets, said its net income rose to $3.01 billion, or 28 cents per share, in the three months ended December 31.
This was up from $2.74 billion, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier.
The bank said its non-interest expenses fell 2.3% to $13.87 billion.
Bank of America has been hit by high legal costs since the financial crisis, undermining many of the cost cutting initiatives initiated by chief executive Brian Moynihan.
The US lender has been slashing billions of dollars in costs in its commercial lending, investment banking and wealth management businesses in efforts to mitigate sluggish revenue growth.
"Our results this quarter reflect our ongoing efforts to improve operating leverage while continuing to invest in our business. We increased net interest income and managed expenses tightly," Moynihan said in a statement.
Total quarterly revenue rose 4.3% to $19.53 billion, with revenue from consumer banking, Bank of America's largest business, increasing 0.4%.
Global markets revenue rose 31% to $3.13 billion, accounting for 16% of total revenue.
