Bank of America 2015 Annual Report Download - page 3

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(CEO letter continued from cover)
Before reviewing our progress, I want to highlight a couple of
important points. Our Board of Directors regularly reviews our
strategy, the environment in which we are operating, and the
progress we are making toward the goals we set. Our Lead
Independent Director, Jack Bovender, discusses this in his letter
to shareholders on the previous page and in our  proxy
statement. You may also read more about our company in our
Business Standards Report, which discusses in further detail
how we live our purpose and the approach we take to fulfilling
our responsibilities in the areas of environmental, social and
governance (ESG).
In , your investment in the company, measured by
tangible book value per share, was at a record $.. That
figure has increased in each of the past five years and is up
 percent in that period — and that is after nearly $ billion
of stock repurchases and dividends paid.
Our return on assets (ROA) was . percent. Our longer-term
target is . percent. The gap shows we still have work to do.
However, our target is realistic, driven by continued loan growth
and good core expense management. Expenses, excluding the
large drop in litigation, were down nearly $ billion last year,
and we expect expenses to decline again in .
In December, we saw the first increase in short-term interest
rates in nearly a decade. And, while interest rates are still a
long way from normal, this move reflects a steadily improving
U.S. economy, which has continued into early . We see
consumers spending and businesses growing, and it’s our job
to help them. We will continue to drive the core business
growth, even in a below-trend economic environment in the
U.S. and around the world.
The $ billion we earned in  reflected progress across
a range of measures: loan growth, business activity, capital,
liquidity, credit improvement and cost management. Here are
just a few examples of how our team supported customers
and clients. Your company:
• Grew core loan balances by $ billion and deposit
balances by $ billion.
•Issued nearly  million new credit cards, and saw
consumer spending on credit cards rise  percent.
•Funded $ billion in residential home loans, helping
more than , families buy or refinance a home.
•Extended more than $. billion in new credit to
small business owners.
•Increased loans to the midsize companies we serve
by  percent to $ billion.
•Raised $ billion of capital to help companies grow. Brian Moynihan
Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer
Tangible book value
per share of common
stock is a non-GAAP
financial measure.
Book value per share
at December , 
was $..