Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) will continue to favour share buybacks over a dividend increase to avoid putting itself in a position where it may have to reduce the dividend in the future, Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said at a conference in London on Wednesday.
"Our stock's a good buy and we'll continue to buy it until the cows come home," he said.
While not explicitly stated in any rule, regulators have made it clear to banks that their dividend payout should not exceed 30 per cent of earnings.
Bank of America expects to return US$14.2 billion to shareholders in 2017, with the majority of that coming via share buybacks, according to a presentation earlier this month by Chief Financial Officer Paul Donofrio. That compares to US$6.6 billion in 2016.
Bank of America shares were up 2.2 per cent in early trading on Wednesday.
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