BOSTON – The souring capital markets hit FleetBoston Financial hard, dragging second-quarter profits down 45 percent and leaving the bank well short of analysts’ expectations.

FleetBoston, the nation’s seventh-largest financial holding company, reported profits for the quarter ending June 30 of $531 million, or 48 cents per share, down from $971 million or 87 cents per share a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, including a $290 million after-tax write-down for investments, FleetBoston earned 81 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call had expected profits of 79 cents per share.

“The operating environment for our capital markets business is clearly quite difficult,” Chad Gifford, president and chief operating officer, said in a press release.