From the Vault - Third Quarter Results

Great Southern Bancorp Inc.

Great Southern Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: GSBC), the holding company for Great Southern Bank, Oct. 13 reported third quarter preliminary earnings of 51 cents per share, a 13 percent increase compared to 45 cents per share during third quarter 2003. For the nine months ended Sept. 20, preliminary earnings were $1.44 per share, up 14 percent from $1.26 per share during the same period last year.

"Strong loan growth, steady deposit growth and increases in net interest income and non-interest income all contributed to our third quarter nancial performance," said Joseph W. Turner, Great Southern president and CEO, in a company release.

Other nancial gures of note:

Stockholder equity as of Sept. 30 was $135.2 million, equivalent to a book value of $9.87 per share.

Deposits were up 2 percent over the second quarter.

Loans increased 7 percent from thesecond quarter.

Gross revenues from travel, insurance and investment divisions grew 25 percent from third quarter 2003.

Great Southern offers a range of banking, investment, insurance and travel services to customers and clients. Based in Springeld, Great Southern operates 29 branches and more than 140 ATMs throughout southwest and central Missouri. The company also has loan production ofces in Kansas City and Rogers, Ark.

Bank of America

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) announced third quarter earnings of $3.76 billion, or 91 cents per share, compared to earnings of $2.92 billion, or 96 cents per share, in the same period of 2003. For the rst nine months of the year, Bank of America earned $10.29 billion, or $2.76 a share, compared to $8.08 billion, or $2.65 a share, a year earlier.

Much of the increase can be attributed to the company's acquisition of FleetBoston Financial Corp., which nalized April 1.

Other third quarter nancial gures of note:

Net interest income was $7.84 billion, compared to $5.48 billion a year ago.

Retail deposits grew 11 percent to $399.6 billion.

Consumer checking accounts grew by 537,000 net.

About 1.6 million new credit card accounts opened.

Thirty-eight new banking centers opened, bringing the year-to-date total to 83.

Charlotte, N.C-based Bank of America serves 33 million consumers with more than 5,800 retail banking ofces, more than 16,500 ATMs and more than 11 million active online bank users. At press time its stock traded for $45.64 per share, 5 cents less than its 52-week high.

U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Bancorp reported third quarter net income of $1.07 billion, or 56 cents per share an increase of 14.3 percent compared to $950.9 million, or 49 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2003. It is the company's seventh consecutive quarter of record earnings.

Other third quarter nancial gures of note:

Net interest income dropped 2.4 percent, from $1.825 billion in the third quarter of 2003 to $1.782 billion.

Book value per share ended at $10.48, up 2.1 percent from $10.26 per share during the same period in 2003.

Excluding securities gains and losses, total net revenue increased by 3.4 percent over the same time last year.

U.S. Bancorp operates 2,344 banking ofces and 4,578 ATMs in the United States. The company offers banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions.