ICBC’s interim profits beat expectations, bad loan ratio falls
Profit rise of 1.9 per cent better than analysts’ forecasts of 1.3 per cent, though fee-based income falls
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the nation’s largest lender by assets, reported better-than-expected profit for the first half of this year on Wednesday.
The Beijing-based bank said it earned 153 billion yuan (US$23 billion) in the six months ended June 30, a 1.9 per cent rise over the same period a year earlier and beating a consensus forecast by analysts of a 1.3 per cent rise to 152.1 billion yuan.
Its interim performance was better than expected, the bank said in a statement on Wednesday.
The bank’s management team is confident that asset quality will keep improving, Yi Huiman, chairman of the bank, told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday.
Its non-performing loan ratio dropped to 1.57 per cent on June 30 from 1.62 per cent at the end of last year, reflecting improving assets quality.
It was below the average of 1.6 per cent for the nation’s five biggest state-owned banks.
Net interest income for the first half rose by 7.1 per cent from a year earlier to 250.9 billion yuan. Its net interest margin, a key measure of profitability, was 2.16 per cent. The average margin for the top five banks was 2.02 per cent in the period, according to regulatory data.