B of A ’86 Loss $518 Million

BankAmerica Corp. reported today it made an $82-million profit in the fourth quarter, thanks to a $236-million after-tax gain from the sale of its Italian banking subsidiary, but lost $518 million for the year.

The gain followed back-to-back quarterly losses of $640 million and $23 million at BankAmerica and came in a period that saw A. W. Clausen return as chairman and chief executive officer to fight a merger offer from First Interstate Bancorp. The nation’s second-largest bank holding company, plagued by problem loans, has lost a total of $855 million in the last two years.