NEW YORK – Bank of America Corp. will cut another 4,500 employees in addition to the 12,500 reductions the company had previously announced as a result of the merger with FleetBoston Financial Corp.

Bank of America spokeswoman Alex Trower said the layoffs will largely take place in the fourth quarter of 2004. As a result, the company will incur a $150 million severance charge that will be spread out from the third quarter of 2004 through the first quarter of 2005.

By taking the charge upfront, the company is paving the way for cleaner earnings in 2005 and 2006, analysts said.

“They’re reducing their expense base and are increasing their earnings visibility in the longer-term,” said an analyst at Midwest Research, Anthony Polini. “For a stockholder, these cuts are a good thing.”

The $150 million charge calculates to about $34,000 for each of the 4,500 expected layoffs. While that isn’t a small figure, it isn’t dramatically high either, said Standard & Poor’s equity analyst Evan Momios. He said many companies try to be conservative about severance costs to avoid having to pay extra down the road. Bank of America may actually find that severance costs will be less than expected, he said.

The layoffs will reduce duplicate positions as a result of the company combining its consumer banking, consumer products and small business banking into one business line, Bank of America’s Ms. Trower said.

“We were able to identify additional cost saves which help us to operate the company more efficiently,” she said. Ms. Trower said the company isn’t providing any estimates on how much extra savings it expects. Previously, Bank of America announced a goal of $750 million in merger savings.

Ms. Trower said job reductions will be seen across the company, across business lines, and across geography. Also, while the company remains committed to employment obligations made to New England, the “employment level will ebb and flow” in the region, she said.

Mr. Polini said the company’s commitment to New England jobs was one of the reasons the bank was able to get approval for its merger with Fleet-Boston, which closed April 1.

Mr. Momios added that the reductions largely appear to be back office operations and shouldn’t seriously impact consumer service positions.

Neither Mr. Polini or Mr. Momios own shares of Bank of America and their firms don’t have an investment banking relationship with the company.

Bank of America’s shares were recently down 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $45.16 on volume of 1.8 million, compared with average daily volume of 8.9 million.

On Wednesday, the company’s shares hit a 52-week high of $45.37. Bank of America’s low of $36.22 occurred in October 2003.