NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Bank of America has been known to make some large-scale acquisitions in the past.

But its $47 billion acquisition of FleetBoston in 2003 and its $35 billion buy of credit card giant MBNA last year may have quenched the company's appetite for the near future.

Speaking on a conference call with analysts regarding the company's lower-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, Bank of America's (down $0.36 to $43.83, Research) CEO Kenneth Lewis said the company wants to focus on integrating its MBNA acquisition in 2006 as the companies undergo a full operational conversion by October.

"There's nothing in our mind about acquisitions," Lewis said. "While we never say never, I do think this will be a period of time similar to that 1998 to 2003 time where we executed without major acquisitions."

He said the MBNA acquisition won't hurt earnings in 2006. The company previously said it expected the acquisition to dilute earnings by 1 percent. But MBNA's overall standalone earnings "will be compressed due to the increase in short-term rates," he added.

Bank of America will also steer clear of any acquisitions abroad, Lewis said.

That came as no surprise to A.G. Edwards analyst David George, who said the company has a lot on its plate already between integrating the MBNA buy and overcoming weakness in its capital markets business.

The banking giant, which ranks number two behind Citigroup (Research), reported fourth-quarter earnings of $3.77 billion, or 93 cents per share, from $3.85 billion, or 94 cents, a year earlier. Excluding merger and restructuring charges, profit totaled 94 cents a share, a far cry from the $1.02 per share analysts had been expecting, according to earnings tracker Thomson First Call. Bank of America shares were down almost 1% in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock exchange.

Bank of America blamed its earnings shortfall on a combination of weak trading profits and a surge in bankruptcy filings ahead of the tougher Oct. 17 bankruptcy laws, which boosted the company's bad loans for the quarter.

Lewis said the bankruptcy issue was a one-time event for the company and may in fact benefit the company going forward, making for easier year-over-year comparisons.

Still, the trading environment remains tough. Bank of America's trading account profit fell 51 percent from the third quarter to $253 million, a six percent decline from a year earlier.

Chief Financial Officer Alvaro de Molina told analysts that the results "didn't benefit from exposure to commodities or international," adding that the company's "market group isn't broad enough."

He said while the company was disappointed with the performance of its trading operations, "going forward, it's a work in progress." He added that Bank of America remained committed to the business and given the company's investments in that area, he expects the business to see significant bottom-line improvement -- in excess of 10 percent growth in its net income.

Bank of America's trading woes mirrored disappointments from banking titans Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase (Research). Citigroup during its earnings presentation said the company's trading was hit by pressure in its commodities business but expects positive momentum for its overall trading business in 2006.

J.P. Morgan blamed its sharp trading shortfall on a number of bad trades in the quarter but the company's CEO, James Dimon, said the company should do better in 2006 as it works to keep those positioning errors from happening again.

But A.G. Edwards' George said there isn't any inherent weakness in Bank of America's trading platform and he expects the company to expand its capital markets over time.

Coming off a quarter that analysts are describing as modestly disappointing, Bank of America was cautious about its 2006 outlook.

De Molina, the company's CFO, said the confluence of negative factors in the fourth quarter don't signify a trend but 2006 "will be a slower growth year."

He said 2006 revenue is expected to grow at the low end of a 6% to 9% range, and its earnings per share should post a "low- to mid-single digit" increase from $4.21 in 2005. Analysts had forecast $4.41 per share for 2006.

De Molina also said the mortgage market will continue to moderate but not dramatically and while consumer credit quality should remain stable, commercial credit quality will likely deteriorate from current levels.

A.G. Edwards' David George doesn't own shares of Bank of America.

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