Net profit at Bank of Chongqing grew by 21.4 per cent year on year to 2.8 billion yuan (HK$3.5 billion) last year while the level of bad loans remained low, the bank said in a statement.
The municipal-level lender, based in the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing, said its net income margin remained steady at 2.81 per cent, unchanged from the year before. Its dividend per share rose to 0.272 yuan from 0.224 for 2013.
The bank’s non-performing loan (NPL) ratio has remained low at 0.69 per cent compared to the average rate for commercial banks, which stood at 1.29 per cent at the end of last year.
However, like its peers, Bank of Chongqing reported a rapid increase in bad loans.
The still-low NPL rate showed a large increase from the 0.39 per cent reported in 2013. The volume of bad debt jumped by 106 per cent to 732 million yuan. At the same time, its provisions for impairments fell by 207 per cent.
Impairment losses climbed 66 per cent to 890 million yuan.