"However, the deterioration in energy lending may undermine this progress in the short term," he added.  

Fixed-income-revenue rises 

BofA, whose shares were up 0.6% in early trading, has been hit by high legal costs since the financial crisis, undermining many of the cost cutting initiatives initiated by Chief Executive Brian Moynihan.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender has been slashing billions of dollars in costs in its commercial lending, investment banking and wealth management businesses in efforts to mitigate sluggish revenue growth.

"We'll continue our sharp focus on risk management and we'll continue our cost discipline as we look to continue to improve return on capital metrics of our company," Moynihan said on the analysts' call.

BofA's total revenue rose 4.3% to $19.53 billion in the fourth quarter, with revenue from consumer banking, BofA's largest business, increasing 0.4%.

Global markets revenue rose 31% to $3.13 billion, accounting for 16% of total revenue. Revenue from fixed-income trading rose 20%.

Total net charge-offs rose 30% to $1.14 billion.

Up to Friday's close of $14.46, BofA's stock had fallen 14% this year, compared with a 12.9% fall in the KBW Bank Index. The stock fell 5.9% in 2015.