Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Set to Report Earnings on April 16th

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is set to report its first quarter 2010 earnings results before the market opens on Friday, April 16th.

During the fourth quarter of 2009, Bank of America left investors relatively disappointed by reporting a $0.67 loss per share compared to the consensus estimates of $0.525. During the fourth quarter of 2009, the Charlotte, N.C. based bank dropped to $194 million, down from $1.8 billion during the fourth quarter of 2008.

After including dividends on preferred stock and a one-time $4.0 billion negative impact from repaying its TARP debt, common shareholders saw a net loss of $5.2 billion or $0.60 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $2.4 billion or $0.48 per diluted share from Q4 2008.

Analysts earnings per share estimates for Bank of America range between -$0.05 to $0.25 per share with a consensus estimate of around $0.81. The consensus estimate has decreased by 5.81% during the last week, dropping from $0.086 to $0.081.

Six analysts downgraded their forecast for Bank of America’s earnings during the last month citing increased staff costs, legal expenses, and a loss of momentum in revenue and margin expansion.

Bank of America announced the sale of Global Commission Payments, a travel commission payments service, in February 2010. Other important news for the quarter includes  a new mortgage relief program that will forgive some amount of principal on mortgage loans for delinquent borrowers.