Oil magnate Mr. John Deuss met fellow Bermuda Commercial Bank shareholders yesterday -- and was given their overwhelming vote of support.

Although some shareholders were shocked when Mr. Deuss revealed that First Curacao International Bank employed just six people, they unanimously approved FCIB's purchase of Barclays Bank's 32 percent stake in BCB.

They also gave permission for a new issue of one million shares which would increase the authorised share capital from $4.8 million to $7.2 million, although no decision has been taken on whether to go through with the issue.

As of yesterday, the contract to manage BCB was passed from Barclays to FCIB.

But Mr. Richard Francis, who is employed by Barclays, will stay on as managing director for a few months until FCIB appoints his successor from a current shortlist of applicants.

After yesterday's special meeting of shareholders, which the press were not allowed to attend, Mr. Francis said of the reaction to FCIB's small workforce: "The number of their employees is not significant. They can get appropriate skills by going into the marketplace.

"Barclays may have a workforce of 126,000 but Bermuda Commercial Bank did not recruit people from Barclays any more. The number of Barclays staff went down from five when I first arrived to just two.'' BCB chairman the Hon. Clarence Terceira told shareholders that BCB had chosen Mr. Deuss over other suitors from all over the world, including Japan and Italy.

Shareholders were told that FCIB had $400 million in assets and equity of $70 million but, according to one shareholder, Mr. Deuss had said the bank had made a profit of only "between $2 and $3 million''.

The shareolder added: "Overall, stockholders gave Mr. Deuss a cautious welcome, although there was an audible gasp when he said that FCIB employed just six people. But as he said, why employ more when only six people are needed to get the job done.

"I think the general feeling among shareholders was that here is someone who knows how to make money. They think he can make them money as well.'' It was revealed at the meeting that Mr. Deuss has bought into BCB at $6.91 a share, 66 cents a share more than its last traded price of $6.25 on April 6, 1993 and nine cents a share less than its 1992 and 1993 high of $7 per share.

BCB also announced yesterday that it made a profit of $286,666 for the first six months of fiscal 1993 -- almost as much as the entire profit for fiscal 1992, when the bank's performance was hit by a one-off restructuring cost of $1.36 million.

BCB's financials for the six months to March 31, 1993, show that income came to $6.92 million, compared with $21.98 million for the whole of fiscal 1992.

Expenses came to $6.64 million, compared with $20.31 million for the previous year.

Liabilities went from $202.23 million at September 30, 1992, to $272.83 million at March 31, 1993.

After the meeting, Mr. Francis said he was delighted with the actions the bank had taken to turn itself around from combined losses of $3.4 million in 1990 and 1991.

The bank has all but shelved its loss making retail banking business, shedding about 60 jobs in the process.

"It's very hard for anyone to find fault with anything we've done,'' said Mr.

Francis. "We anticipated the economic conditions would get worse. We took action over the last two years and we are now seeing the benefits.'' He added: "Bermuda Commercial Bank has a very low-risk balance sheet. That's going to be a critical point in the years to come. We don't have the same potential for loss as other companies do.'' Mr. Francis said he would probably leave Bermuda in mid-September after he had tied up a few loose ends at the bank, such as the completion of a new computer system and new premises design. He speculated that his next stop with Barclays may be Africa.

Mr. Deuss, who rarely says anything to the media, issued a statement which said: "First Curacao International Bank intends to continue the current strategy of expanding the international commercial business of Bermuda Commercial Bank, while maintaining the solid growth of its retail business.'' It is understood there will be no further job losses at BCB in the immediate future.

MR. JOHN DEUSS -- unanimous support from Bermuda commericial Bank shareholders.