BofA CEO sees 10% increase in trading revenue this quarter

Bloomberg

Bank of America Corp. (BofA) Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said he expects the company’s traders to do very well in the current quarter, while not up to the pace set in the first three months of the year.
Combined bond- and stock-trading revenue may rise in the “high single digits” or even close to 10% from a year ago, he told investors at a virtual conference. The bank’s trading revenue jumped 22% in the first quarter to $4.3 billion.
“You’ve seen the volatility come down in the market, and so equities is down and FICC is up a lot,” Moynihan said, referring to the fixed income, currencies and commodities business.
Investment-banking revenue is forecast to rise by about 10%. That compares with an 11%
decline in the first quarter to $4.6 billion.
Moynihan is the latest Wall Street bank chief to give a snapshot of trading performance. JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon said the environment has been as strong this quarter as it was in the first three months of the year, when the bank set a record for revenue from that unit.
The company has ample capital to support dividends. “We earned twice our dividend in the toughest quarter we’ve had in many years,” Moynihan said. “I don’t think it’d be good policy to restrict dividends across the board, because every company is different.”
“What the Fed has done with the standby facilities has stabilised markets,” while actions by the administration and Congress have helped cash-strapped consumers as unemployment rises. “That’s the way to go about fixing this crisis. The rate structure’s not going to make people take activity if they don’t have the
cash and confidence to do it,” Moynihan added.