Bank of America, holding company for the San Francisco-based Bank of America, was once unchallenged as the nation’s biggest banking organization. At its peak, it had more branches in California -- 1,100 -- than the U.S. Postal Service. It was also a highly profitable enterprise. But since 1980, Bank of America’s earnings have been down or flat. From March 1985 to March 1986, for example, earnings per share dropped 50. 8%. Samuel H. Armacost, president and CEO, has confessed that he doesn’t expect a turnaround soon.
Some of Bank of America’s old magic seems to have rubbed off on New York’s Citibank, perennial rival for top banking honors. Thanks to aggressive growth policies, Citicorp’s assets topped Bank of America’s for the first time in 1983 and by a healthy margin. Citibank has also been generating profits at a fast clip, enabling it to spend lavishly on campaigns to enter new markets -- notably Bank of America’s turf in
A. its expensive overhead
B. its large amount of branches
C. its long history
D. corruption of its leaders
我来回答: