Bank of America earnings: 62 cents per share, vs 59 cents expected

• Bank of America says loans in its business segments grew by 5 percent to $864 billion.
• The company also says that legislation passed last year helped drive its effective tax rate down by 9 percentage points.
• Revenue for its consumer banking business climbed 9 percent to $9 billion, driven by a 13 percent spike in net interest income in the segment.

Bank of America reported Monday better-than-expected results for the first quarter of the year, driven by strong loan growth and lower taxes.

Here's how the bank fared compared with Wall Street expectations:

— Earnings: 62 cents per share vs. 59 cents expected by Thomson Reuters.
— Revenue: $23.1 billion vs. $23.059 billion forecast.
— Net interest income: $11.6 billion vs. $11.69 billion forecast by StreetAccount.
— Fixed income trading revenue: $2.5 billion vs. 2.92 billion forecast.

Brian Moynihan, Bank of America

Christopher Goodney | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Bank of America said loans in its business segments grew by 5 percent to $864 billion on a year-over-year basis.

"Our responsible growth model continues to deliver consistent results," CEO Brian Moynihan said in a statement. "Strong client activity, coupled with a growing global economy and solid U.S. consumer activity, led to record quarterly earnings."

Bank of America also said revenue for its consumer banking business climbed 9 percent to $9 billion, driven by a 13 percent spike in net interest income in the segment.

Revenue for equities trading rose 38 percent $1.5 billion, helping offset a 13 percent decline in fixed income trading. Equities trading likely got a boost from an uptick in stock-market volatility last quarter as investors fretted over inflationary and political concerns.

Bank of America added that legislation passed last year helped drive its effective tax rate down by 9 percentage points.

"I thought they were pretty good results," Jeff Harte, analyst at Sandler O'Neill, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday. "Net net, I think we're seeing progress where we need to see progress and BofA should keep chugging along higher, in my opinion."

The company's stock rose 0.4 percent on Monday. Bank of America shares are up about 1 percent for the year, outperforming rival Citigroup, which is down 4.6 percent in 2018.

Earnings season kicked off last week with J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo reporting better-than-expected quarterly results.

Correction: An earlier version misstated Bank of America's revenue for consumer banking for the first quarter. It was $9 billion.