BANK OF THE OZARKS INC.

LIKE MANY OTHER bank holding companies, Bank of the Ozarks Inc. has slogged through a year of depressed stock prices. But the upside looks promising, as analysts covering the Little Rock-based company consistently rank it a "moderate" or "strong buy."

The quarter that ended Dec. 31, 1999, was the 12th consecutive quarter in which Bank of the Ozarks recorded record net income. For fiscal year 1999, Bank of the Ozarks' net income was $6.64 million, an increase of almost 18 percent from 1998. Earnings per share reached $1.75 last year, and the consensus EPS estimate for 2000 is $1.98.

The bank's stock has traded between $14.50 and $22.75 during the past year, and was hovering in the low end of that range in mid-May. This compares with prices in the mid-30s in 1998.

Bank of the Ozarks is a two-bank holding company that operates 23 bank offices in 16 communities in northern, western and central Arkansas. Total assets were $796 million at year's end, a 30 percent increase from $612 million on Dec. 31, 1998.

Originally headquartered in Ozark, Bank of the Ozarks began in 1994 a strategy of rapid expansion. The result has been the addition of 18 branch banks in five years and the relocation of the corporate headquarters to west Little Rock in 1998.

Managers have indicated the expansion will slow, with only one new branch -- under construction in Yellville -- to be added in 2000 and probably only two new branches in 2001.