Dah Sing Banking Group, which owns Hong Kong's last family-owned bank, posted HK$1.4 billion in net profit for the first half, a 29 per cent growth from the same period last year. Dah Sing Financial Holdings, the majority shareholder of the banking group, saw profits jump by nearly 50 per cent to HK$1.01 billion in the same period, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The two companies are part of unlisted parent Dah Sing Group. Dah Sing Banking Group also controls Banco Comercial de Macau and Dah Sing Bank (China). Shares of both companies rallied on the news. The banking group's stock closed up 1.9 per cent to HK$14 while Financial Holdings shares rose by 2.96 per cent to HK$43.50. Earnings per share were 79 HK cents, from 63 HK cents a year ago for Dah Sing Banking Group, and HK$3.18 from HK$2.20 for Dah Sing Financial Holdings. The banking group's on-balance-sheet lending to non-bank customers on the mainland shrank by a fraction of a percentage point from the end of 2013, at a time when most Hong Kong banks are expanding that exposure. The International Monetary Fund and global ratings agencies have warned of the risks of exposure to a slowing mainland economy, particularly in the property sector and overcapacity industries such as steel. "They are trying to control their risks and have more credit control," Kenny Tang Sing-hing, an analyst at AMTD Financial Planning, said of the banking group. "I think they will maintain this level [of mainland exposure] in the second half of the year." Impairment allowances for mainland lending shot up by 59 per cent to HK$307 million between January and June, driving overall loan impairments up by 63 per cent year on year.