China Citic Bank, the mainland's seventh-largest lender by assets, made a pre-tax profit of two billion yuan in the third quarter, benefiting from strong loan growth and international business.
'The bank is still in the middle level of listed Chinese banks [in terms of profitability],' Guotai Junan Securities analyst Wu Yonggang said.
Citic Bank is hoping to improve its profitability and risk management as it seeks a dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai next year, which sources said may raise up to US$2 billion.
Like other mainland banks, its earnings were boosted by strong loan demand amid the country's fast-developing economy.
For the first nine months, the banking unit of Citic Group reported pre-tax profit of 5.7 billion yuan.
The third-quarter profit was calculated by deducting the first-half figures from the nine months. The numbers were not audited and the bank gave no comparative figures.