HONG KONG (Standard&Poor's) Feb. 3, 2005--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings on Bank of East Asia Ltd. (BEA, BBB+/Stable/A-2) are not affected by the bank's announcement of a 26.2% increase in net profit before minority interests for the year ended 2004 to Hong Kong dollar (HK$) 2.4 billion. The growth was mainly generated by a HK$246.5 million revaluation of BEA's investment properties and the bank's own premises (compared with HK$101 million charge in 2003) and a HK$225.9 million decrease in loan loss provision expenses. The magnitude of both the revaluation and the reduction in provision expenses is exceptional and unlikely to be repeated in 2005. BEA's operating profit before provisions decreased by 3.3%, reflecting
