Bank of America (BAC) today 10/06/08, pre-announced Q3 2008 earnings result after the markets closed. The company reported revenues net of interest expense of $19.90 billion. This was a 21% increase from the $16.47 billion that the bank reported a year earlier. Analysts were expecting revenues of $20.61 billion.

Net income came in at $1.18 billion, or $0.15 per share, down from $3.70 billion, or $0.82 per share, a year earlier. This represented a 68% drop in profits.

According to the company, “Net interest income on a fully taxable-equivalent basis rose 33 percent to $11.92 billion from $8.99 billion in the third quarter of 2007 due to the acquisitions of LaSalle and Countrywide, loan and deposit growth, and the impact of rate movements.”

Troubled mortgage lender Countrywide, which Bank of America (BAC) acquired on July 1st of this year, added $259 million in operating earnings in the quarter. This increased Bank of America’s earnings per share by $0.06.

Bank of America (BAC) also announced capital raising initiates that include selling $10 billion of common stock and cutting its dividend to $0.32 from $0.64.

When a company pre-announces, they are hoping there is something in the news that could be taken as a positive by Wall Street. However, Bank of America (BAC) shares, which closed at $32.22, down $2.26 or 6.55%, are down another $3.11 in after hours trading.

Tags: Bank of America  Earnings