This is against the back-drop of good first half results announced by banks so far. Bank of India scrip closed at Rs 24.05 at the Bombay Stock Exchange, lower by 40 paise, but near its lowest ever price of Rs 22.

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 was almost at the same level as previous first half's Rs 146 crore.

There has been a sharp increase in expenditure at Rs 2,306 crore as against Rs 1,800 crore the previous first half. The interest income grew at 19.8 per cent to Rs 2,280 crore.

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

The bank reported a net profit of Rs 14 crore in the second quarter as against Rs 85 crore in the first quarter. Operating profit for the second quarter was Rs 71 crore against Rs 206 crore in the first quarter.

On the other hand, BoI earned more interest income in the second quarter than the first quarter. The interest income for the second quarter was Rs 1179 crore as against Rs 1,101 crore in the first quarter. The other income for the second quarter at Rs 146 crore was at the same level as Rs 157 crore in the first quarter.