Bank of America (BofA) CEO, Brian Moynihan, has set out further details of ‘Project New BAC’, the lender’s year-long cost-cutting initiative.

Speaking on 12 September at Barclays 2011 Global Financial Services Conference, Moynihan said that five out of BofA’s six business units were “generating solid operating profits.”

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The exception is BofA’s mortgage business unit.

According to Moynihan, the first phase of BofA’s cost-cutting programme will target savings of $5bn

Phase 1 of the project will result in annual cost savings of $5bn by the end of 2013; phase 1 started in April this year and will be implemented from October.

“We are building towards a fortress balance sheet,” said Moynihan.

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Asked if BofA would consider disposing of its troubled Countrywide mortgage unit, Moynihan said that the bank “looks at all our options on everything.”

The market cap of BofA has collapsed to around $70bn in early September from $111bn in June this year; last June the market cap was $144bn. BofA has already lost its position as the largest US bank by deposits: Chase ended the first half with total deposits of $1.05trn to BofA’s $1.03trn.

Although Moynihan has said that BofA has been on a cost-cutting drive since he became CEO, total staff numbers at BofA actually rose, by a net 3,000 year-on-year to 287,839 at the end of the first half.

In his presentation, Moynihan declined to put a figure on the possible number of job losses in terms of the project.

US press reports had speculated about possible job losses of around 40,000.

He said that BofA had suffered from a triple whammy of: low economic growth; the disastrous acquisition of Countrywide and increased regulatory pressure.

Again, Moynihan sought to reassure analysts that BofA had no need to raise fresh capital.