Bank of America 2012 Annual Report Download - page 5

Bank of America 2012 Annual Report 3
We have narrowed our focus to concentrate on the busi-
nesses and services that matter most to our customers and
clients. We divested more than $60 billion of assets in non-
core activities with no meaningful impact to core earnings
and large improvements to capital ratios and liquidity.
We continue to reduce risk throughout the company while
maintaining a strong risk management culture. Credit risk
measurements continued to improve in 2012. Loss rates
were at their lowest levels in several years, reflecting
improvements in credit quality across major consumer and
commercial portfolios.
Two years ago we began a program we call New BAC, to
solicit thousands of ideas from our own employees on how
to streamline the company, be more efficient in our opera-
tions, reduce the red tape amongst ourselves and with our
customers and, ultimately, to decrease our expenses. That
work is well under way.
In addition, we are focused on reducing expenses in our
Legacy Assets & Servicing business. We have made
significant progress reducing the number of delinquent
mortgage loans and helping more than 1.5 million customers
avoid foreclosure with modifications, short sales and
other programs.
In 2012, the number of 60+ day delinquent loans declined by
33 percent to approximately 773,000 loans. We expect to drive
that even lower in 2013. That improvement has enabled us to
shi resources to originate mortgages for our customers and
reduce staffing levels in Legacy Assets & Servicing.
As we reduce costs, we are investing in many areas of the
company — including our industry-leading online and
mobile banking platforms and in growth areas such as small
business, mortgage, and wealth management.
Our financial results for the year show the clear progress
we’ve made as well as the impact of continuing to put
the Countrywide mortgage issues behind us. Your company
earned $4.2 billion in 2012 compared to earnings
of $1.4 billion in 2011. Our tangible book value per share
also improved to $13.36 at December 31, 2012 from
$12.95 at December 31, 2011.1
While we are not yet where we want to be, our results reflect
the underlying strength and earnings potential of the company
that I believe will become even more apparent this year.
A clear purpose
We value the investment and trust each of you as sharehold-
ers has made in Bank of America — and we believe you
own a great company. The capabilities we’ve built over nearly
230 years are second to none, and we can do more for the
people, companies and institutional investors who choose to
do business with us than any other financial services company
can. Every day our team is hard at work proving it; taking
advantage of all the capabilities, expertise and resources at
our disposal to make financial lives better. Quite simply, that
is our purpose — to make financial lives better, through the
power of every connection.
We’re delivering our capabilities how,
where and when our customers and clients
want them — whether it’s through one of
our approximately 5,500 banking centers
and 16,300 ATMs, or our leading online
and mobile platforms.
1 Tangible book value per share is a non-GAAP financial measure. Other companies may define or calculate these
measures differently. For additional information and reconciliation to a GAAP financial measure, see Supplemental
Financial Data on page 31 and Statistical Table XV on page 141 of the 2012 Financial Review section.