Bank of America profits eclipse Citigroup

NEW YORK (AFP) — Bank of America posted better-than-expected quarterly profits Thursday totaling 5.26 billion dollars, gaining a fresh edge over arch-rival Citigroup which has seen its profits ebb in past months.

Bank of America has expanded aggressively in recent years, swallowing FleetBoston Financial and the MBNA credit card firm, and its fat profits eclipsed Citigroup's latest quarterly earnings for the second straight time.

At stake is Citigroup's lucrative perch as America's biggest financial powerhouse, a position coveted by Bank of America. The raging battle is being tracked closely by investors and industry analysts.

Despite its slowing profits, however, Citigroup's market capitalization at 261 billion dollars still outranks its rival's market worth of 227 billion dollars for the time being.

"Bank of America is off to a solid start in 2007 despite a challenging operating environment," said the bank's chairman and ...