Charlotte, United States  - Bank of America, the second- largest US financial institution, posted profits for the second quarter of 3.4 billion dollars that were down on last year but well above expectations.

The bank said it had been compelled to make write-downs of 1.2 billion dollars as a result of the continuing financial crisis.

Net revenue for the quarter rose to a record 20.3 billion dollars.

Apart from segments linked to the real estate market, where the crisis started, other divisions had delivered relatively good figures, chief executive Kenneth Lewis said in a press release issued from the bank's headquarters in Charlotte in the state of North Carolina.

In the same quarter last year, Bank of America booked record profits of 5.8 billion dollars.

Recently it took over leading US mortgage provider Countrywide, which had suffered sharp losses as a result of the crisis that first erupted in the subprime mortgage sector in August last year.

Over recent days, other large US banks have reported figures that came in better than expected, boosting banking shares on Wall Street and in other global markets. (dpa)