BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Limited (02388.HK) today announced its 2011 interim results. The Company and its subsidiaries ("the Group") registered record high interim results since its listing in 2002. Profit attributable to shareholders reached HK$11,993 million for the first six months of 2011, an increase of 66.8% compared with the first half of 2010. Net operating income before impairment allowances was HK$15,126 million, up by 20.6% year-on-year. Earnings per share were HK$1.1343.

During the interim period, the Group has been implementing a proactive management strategy to drive steady and sustainable growth. By taking full advantage of the reviving economy and capturing new business opportunities, the Group recorded broad-based growth in income and profit. All its core businesses, including Personal Banking, Corporate Banking, Treasury, offshore RMB Banking and Insurance, registered healthy growth.

It spearheaded the growth of RMB banking businesses by broadening its service scope to create new demand and enlarge its customer base. As encouraging growth was registered in both business volume and income, the RMB-related business has become a new growth engine and profit stream for the Group.

With focus on the quality of growth, the Group adhered to its prudent credit policy and continued to advance its lending business in a balanced manner. It scored satisfactory growth in fee and commission income, covering a wide spectrum of traditional businesses. Fund distribution business was significantly expanded on the back of improved investment sentiment. The Group's life insurance business maintained strong growth momentum in both premium income and profit, and captured a bigger market share.

While delivering robust business results, the Group remained vigilant over its capital strength, the maintenance of liquidity, asset quality and cost control. For the period under review, its capital adequacy ratio was among the best in the local industry. Its classified or impaired loan ratio further improved and remained the lowest in the market. It also excelled in cost management, with the lowest cost-to-income ratio in the local market.

The Board has declared an interim dividend of HK$0.63 per share, up 57.5% year-on-year. The dividend will be payable on 23 September 2011 (Friday) to shareholders whose names appear on the Register of Members of the Company on 15 September 2011 (Thursday).

Financial Performance
In the first six months of 2011, the Group's profit attributable to shareholders increased strongly by 66.8% to HK$11,993 million, which was made possible by the growth in profit of its core businesses and net recovery from the underlying collateral of the Lehman Brothers Minibonds amounting to HK$2,854 million. Should the impact of the net recovery and the Lehman Brothers-related expenses be excluded, the profit attributable to shareholders would still have grown by a solid 33.4% to HK$9,679 million. Return on average total assets (ROA) and return on average shareholders' equity (ROE) were 1.33% and 19.88% respectively, versus 1.17% and 13.56% respectively for the first half of 2010.