BCP 1st half net profit falls to 101 mln euros

LISBON, July 22 (Reuters) - Millennium bcp (BCP.LS), Portugal's largest listed bank, reported on Tuesday first-half net profit of 101 million euros, less than a third of its year-ago net, with the result hit by a loss of 176.9 million euros on its stake in Banco BPI (BBPI.LS).

The 67 percent drop was largely in line with analysts' expectations. Excluding the provision for the depreciation of BCP's 10 percent stake in BPI and other specific items, net earnings totalled 265 million euros, BCP said in a statement .

Net interest income was 9.5 percent higher at 841.9 million euros. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted, on average, net profit of 99 million euros and net interest income of 849 million euros for the first six months of 2008. (Reporting by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Paul Bolding)