The depressing results have come as a shock against the backdrop of better first-half results announced by other banks so far. The bank scrip closed at Rs 24.05 on the Bombay Stock Exchange -- lower by 40 paise -- but still higher than its lowest-ever price of Rs 22. None of the top Bank of India officials was available for comment.

Significantly, the sharp drop in profits was not the result of higher provisioning. The provisions for bad debt, taxation and depreciation of investments at Rs 176 crore were marginally higher than the previous first half's Rs 146 crore.

There has been a sharpincrease in interest expenditure at Rs 2,308 crore against Rs 1,800 crore in the previous first half. While interest expenditure grew by 28.22 per cent, the interest income grew much lower at 19.8 per cent to Rs 2,280 crore.

The other income grew to Rs 303 crore against Rs 264 crore in the first half of the previous year.

The performance was much worse if taken on a quarter-to-quarter basis. The bank reported a mere Rs 14 crore net profit in the second quarter against Rs 85 crore in the first. Operating profit for the second quarter was Rs 71 crore against Rs 206 crore in the first.

On the other hand, BoI earned more interest income in the second quarter than the first. The interest income for the second quarter was Rs 1,179 crore against Rs 1,101 crore in the first. The other income for the second quarter at Rs 146 crore was at the same level as Rs 157 crore in the first.

Interest expended was higher at Rs 963 crore in the second quarter against Rs 732 crore in the first while operating expense waslower at Rs 291 crore against Rs 320 crore in the first quarter. The provisions were also lower in the second quarter at Rs 57 crore against Rs 119 crore in the first.

The global deposits stood at Rs 41,978 crore as on September end, 1998 -- 25.6 per cent higher than the figure in September, 1997. The global advances on a gross basis stood at Rs 23,863 crore in September-end, a growth of 23.5 per cent from the previous September figure.

INSIGHT:

Worst performer so far:Bank of India's second-quarter results are the worst announced by any bank so far. The net profit compared on a year-on-year basis has more than halved to Rs 101 crore. What is worse is that the net profit for the second quarter is only a fraction of what it was in the first quarter of the current year. Against Rs 87 crore reported in the first quarter, the net profit for the second is a paltry Rs 14 crore. In keeping with the poor quality of information from the bank, there was no mention of its NPA figures.