CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Bank of America Corp. reported a $1.6 billion fourth-quarter profit for common shareholders, meeting analysts' expectations amid rising loan balances and continued steps to build capital and slash expenses.

The gain of 15 cents per diluted share, announced early this morning, marks a turnaround from the same period in 2010, when the Charlotte-based bank posted a $1.6 billion loss as it continued to absorb charges related to its troubled mortgage unit.

"The last two years, we've been executing on a huge transformation here at Bank of America," chief executive Brian Moynihan said during a conference call with analysts today. "We set on a course to simplify the company, to streamline the company, to reduce the size of the company, to lower our risk ... As we think about 2012, we begin with a much stronger position."

It marks the second profitable quarter in a row and falls in line with analysts' predictions, which ranged from about 10 to 21 cents per share. Analysts this morning said the bank's progress raising capital was promising, but some called the overall results unimpressive, considering the continued "noise" from one-time gains such as asset sales.

Still, "while Q4 results clearly weren't best in class, they didn't need to be, given the stock's valuation," analyst David George of Robert W. Baird & Co. said. "We think the market will like BAC's progress in terms of capital."

The bank's stock was trading around $7.09 by late morning, up 4 percent from the previous day's close. That's up 28 percent for the year after shares fell nearly 60 percent in 2011.

Executives said the fourth-quarter results reflect "aggressive steps" to strengthen the bank's balance sheet. Since Moynihan took the helm in early 2010, he and his management team have been working to boost capital and cut costs.

Last year, the bank continued to sell off non-core businesses and announced plans to eliminate 30,000 jobs over the next few years as part of its wide-ranging efficiency initiative, Project New BAC.

Business activity improved in the fourth quarter, Moynihan said, with commercial and industrial loan balances rising 13 percent over the same period in 2010 and small-business loan originations increasing about 20 percent for the year.

The bank registered a small profit for the full year, $85 million attributable to common shareholders, or about 1 cent per share. That's up from a loss of $3.6 billion, or 37 cents per share, for 2010.

Bank of America has drawn notice in the first weeks of 2012 for its climbing stock price, but bank-watchers acknowledge continued hurdles ahead related to the bank's 2008 acquisition of troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp., regulatory pressure and lingering economic uncertainty.

The bank's earnings report comes two days after rival Wells Fargo & Co. posted a record profit. The San Francisco-based bank, which bought Charlotte's Wachovia in 2008, reported a fourth-quarter gain of $3.9 billion for common shareholders, or about 73 cents per share, up 20 percent over the same period the year before.