BofA Hopes to Cut Risky Exposure Further

BankAmerica Corp. wants to further reduce its exposure to emerging markets by 50%, but reaching that goal is far from a certainty, Chief Financial Officer James Hance told analysts. The nation’s largest bank, formed in September by the merger of BofA and NationsBank Corp., had already cut its exposure, including loans and investments, to $36.7 billion from $41 billion in the fourth quarter. In the third quarter, markets around the world plunged, contributing to a 50% drop in profit at the bank. When the banks announced the merger last April, executives at NationsBank and BofA said they thought the bank would expand internationally, said Diane Glossman, a bank analyst at Lehman Bros. NationsBank, which didn’t have large-scale international businesses, had been expanding gradually into Latin America. “People in the company would have thought earlier in 1998 that additional activities might have been taken outside the U.S.,” Glossman said. “Instead, what we’re seeing is a significant cutback.” BofA stock fell 44 cents to close at $65.06 on the New York Stock Exchange.