BANKING

BankAmerica to Take Huge Charge: BankAmerica Corp. plans to report a non-cash charge of as much as $1.5 billion for the first quarter. Most of the charge--about $840 million--is attributable to a change in accounting rules, according to the San Francisco-based banking company’s annual report. The rest is from added “goodwill” from acquisitions, primarily that of Security Pacific Corp. Goodwill, an intangible, is the premium paid for an asset in excess of its book value. Analysts have estimated that BankAmerica will boost its goodwill from last year’s Security Pacific deal by between $250 million and $400 million, a sign that the merger has not been as beneficial as the bank had hoped. As of year-end, goodwill from that merger was $3.6 billion. Analysts noted that the charge should have little or no effect on earnings or capital ratios. Thomas K. Brown, with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, said that he expects first-quarter earnings to be disappointing but that fears about credit quality and confusion related to the merger should dissipate in the second quarter.