BANK of America says its second-quarter profits soared, helped by higher earnings from investment banking and cost-cutting.

The results beat analysts' expectations. The bank earned US$3.6 billion in the quarter after payments to preferred shareholders. That was up 70 percent from US$2.1 billion a year ago.

Per share, that worked out to 32 US cents. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected 25 US cents per share.

Bank of America, the United States' second-biggest bank by assets, has been slimming down and cutting jobs since CEO Brian Moynihan took over at the beginning of 2010, a departure from the empire-building of his predecessors.

In the second quarter, the bank slashed expenses about 6 percent, to US$16 billion from US$17 billion a year ago.

It also cut about 18,300 jobs over the year, or nearly 7 percent of its work force. The bank now has about 257,000 staff, down about 11 percent from its peak of nearly 289,000 in early 2011.