In Brief: B of A Reassures Analysts on Asia Exposure

BankAmerica Corp. suffered some losses trading in the tumultuous Asian markets last month, but its overall trading business remains profitable, and the company is poised for a strong 1998, analysts say.

"Comforting" was the way Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Thomas Theurkauf described the San Francisco banking company's first on-site meeting for analysts in many years.

Mr. Theurkauf said the company reported only 3% of its loans are within Asia, and most are short-term.

In the next year analysts expect the bank to focus on building its retail banking business, which has been headed by H. Eugene Lockhart for the past six months.

Although the company has the capital to make a big acquisition, analysts who attended the conference said chief executive David Coulter indicated that prices are too high at present for his liking.

In the meantime the bank is expected to invest heavily building the research and underwriting capacities of Robertson, Stephens & Co., it's recently acquired investment bank.

Some analysts said such expenses could affect the bank's core profitability next year.

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