Bank of America slashes 77 jobs

Hunt Valley processing center to close this fall

"Bank of America regularly evaluates the best location and use of resources to better serve our customers and increase the efficiency of operations," spokeswoman Nicole Nastacie said in an e-mail. "As a result it is not uncommon for the bank to shift operations to other locations where greater efficiencies and cost savings can be achieved.

"Impacted associates have already been notified, and we are committed to assisting those associates whose positions are being eliminated or moved to another location," Nastacie said.

Bank of America, the largest bank in Maryland in deposits with $17.4 billion, saw a 41 percent second-quarter plunge in net income to $3.4 billion from a year earlier. Provision for credit losses was $5.8 billion, up from $1.8 billion a year earlier.

Executives were pleased with the "solid results in a difficult financial environment," CEO Kenneth D. Lewis said in a recent statement. "Outside of real estate-related products, our operating results were quite good virtually across all business segments."

Bank of America is not the only bank to trim its Maryland workforce over the past year, as the banking industry hits harder times fueled by the residential real estate slowdown and credit crunch. Last year, Chevy Chase Bank of Bethesda cut its workforce by about 300 employees.