Bank of America Corp.'s net income available to common shareholders tumbled 48% from the year prior to $3.54 billion in the first quarter. Its EPS fell 43% to 40 cents.

The drop was driven by a $4.76 billion provision for credit losses. Over the preceding four quarters, BofA's provision ranged from about $800 million to about $1 billion.

The company joined large-bank peers including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. in taking a large hit in anticipation of defaults driven by the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. BofA said that it had granted payment deferrals to 3% of its consumer and small business accounts as of April 8, encompassing 7% of balances. That includes 16% of small business loan and line accounts that have been granted deferrals, representing 32% of balances.

Overall, BofA's allowance for credit losses increased $6.9 billion, or 67%, from Dec. 31, 2019, to $17.13 billion at March 31. That includes a $3.3 billion addition it recorded on Jan. 1 when it adopted the current expected credit loss standard known as CECL. The bank's allowance for loan and lease losses as a percentage of total loans and leases increased 54 basis points from year-end 2019 to 1.51% at March 31.

Since the coronavirus shock landed only a few weeks ago in March, charge-offs remained low. BofA's ratio of annualized charge-offs to loans increased 7 basis points from the previous quarter to 0.46%

BofA's net loans and leases increased 6% from Dec. 31 to $1.035 trillion at March 31, and its deposits increased 10% to $1.583 trillion. The size of bank balance sheets surged in the first quarter as corporate borrowers drew against credit lines to build up defensive cash positions and the Federal Reserve injected massive amounts of liquidity into the system.

The bank's net interest margin compressed 2 basis points from the previous quarter to 2.33%. Its net interest income was about flat at $12.13 billion.

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