John Hancock Bank and Thrift Opportunity Fund Reports Second Quarter Earnings

    BOSTON, July 17 /EMWNews/ -- John Hancock Bank and Thrift

Opportunity Fund (NYSE: BTO), a closed-end fund managed by John Hancock

Advisers, LLC, reported today that net investment income was $3,277,743 for

the second quarter ended April 30, 2008. For the comparable period in 2007,

net investment income was $3,109,896.



    As of April 30, 2008, the net asset value per share was $6.29 with

total net assets of $530,666,791 and 84,400,000 shares outstanding.

Comparable figures for April 30, 2007 reflect a net asset value per share

of $10.05, total net assets of $848,514,938 and 84,400,000 shares

outstanding.

    About Manulife Financial and John Hancock



    The Boston-based mutual fund business unit of John Hancock Financial

Services, John Hancock Funds manages more than $54.1 billion in open-end

funds, closed-end funds, private accounts, retirement plans and related

party assets for individual and institutional investors at March 31, 2008.

John Hancock Funds are distributed by John Hancock Funds, LLC, member

FINRA. For more information, please visit http://www.jhfunds.com.



    John Hancock is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading

Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19

countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in

Canada and Asia, and primarily through John Hancock in the United States,

the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products

and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees,

agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife

Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$400 billion (US$389 billion) as of

March 31, 2008. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX,

NYSE and PSE, and under '0945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found

on the Internet at http://www.manulife.com.