Dividend 50% down, Bank Of America, trying to raise $ 10bn

SAN FRANCISCO -- Bank of America Corp. said late Monday that its third-quarter profit dropped to $1.18 billion, or 15 cents a share, from $3.7 billion, or 82 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research estimated a quarterly profit of 61 cents a share. Bank of America also said that it will sell $10 billion in common shares in a secondary offering and cut its quarterly dividend by 50% to 32 cents.