WASHINGTON: US banking titan Bank of America said on Thursday its latest quarterly profit rose by more than expected to $5.76 billion, but said it had also set aside more cash for increased credit losses.

The US second largest bank behind Citigroup said net profit for the second quarter rose five per cent from a year ago, as it also unveiled earnings per share of $1.28.

Most banking analysts had only expected Bank of America to post a profit of $1.20 per share.“Bank of America, with its diverse business model, was able to continue attractive earnings growth despite challenging headwinds,” said chairman and chief executive officer Kenneth Lewis.—AFP

LONDON, July 19: Vodafone, the British mobile phone giant, said on Thursday that it had won 9.1 million new customers during its first quarter, reaping the rewards of its major expansion into emerging markets.

The additions for the three months to June 30 compared with new clients totalling 4.8 million during the same period in 2006/07.

Analysts had forecast between 4.7 and 7.8 million new customers during Vodafone’s first quarter in 2007/08.

Vodafone added in its trading update that it has a total of 232 million subscribers.—AFP

BANGALORE: India’s third-largest software maker, Wipro, posted a smaller-than-expected fiscal first-quarter profit on Thursday as a rising rupee cut into sales billed in dollars.

Net income was Rs7.1 billion in the three months ended June, up 16 per cent from Rs6.1 billion in the year-earlier period, Bangalore-based Wipro said in a statement.

Some analysts surveyed had projected quarterly earnings of Rs7.5 billion or more for the company, for which dollar sales make up about 60 per cent of total revenue.—AFP

FRANKFURT: SAP, the world’s leading maker of business software, published better-than-expected second-quarter results on Thursday, triggering a sharp rise in the group’s share price.

SAP said in a statement that bottom-line net profit grew by 8.2 per cent to 449 million euros ($620m) in the period from April to June.

Revenues from software and software-related services, the key yardstick for the sector, were up 15.5 per cent at 1.71 billion euros.

Software sales alone rose by 18 per cent to 715 million euros in the three-month period.

The figures surpassed analysts' expectations, sending SAP shares soaring on the Frankfurt stock exchange, where they were showing a gain of 2.20 euros or 5.82 per cent at 39.97 euros in mid-afternoon trade.

—AFP