NET profits at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Bank of China surged in 2011 as they benefited from growth in loans as well as in interest and non-interest income.
ICBC, the country's biggest lender, yesterday said 2011 net earnings jumped 25.55 percent to 208.45 billion yuan (US$32.9 billion) as loan growth outpaced rising defaults.
The lender added 998 billion yuan of new loans in 2011 while its outstanding loans stood at 7.79 trillion yuan by the year's end. Its net interest income grew an annual 19.4 percent to 362.76 billion yuan.
The bank also gained from a wider net interest margin of 2.49 percent last year, up from 2.35 percent in 2010, while its non-performing loan ratio narrowed by 0.14 percentage point to 0.94 percent.
ICBC's non-interest income surged 40 percent to 107.84 billion yuan, with fees and commissions for services such as clearing, settlement and cash management rising 39.4 percent.
Its capital adequacy ratio, an important gauge for measuring a bank's financial strength, rose by 0.9 percentage point to 13.17 percent last year.
BOC, China's fourth-biggest lender by market value, saw last year's net profit expand by 18.93 percent from the year earlier on growth in both interest and non-interest income.
The bank saw net income climb to 124.2 billion yuan last year. Earnings per share added 0.05 yuan to 0.44 yuan.
Its annual net interest income rose 17.58 percent to 228 billion yuan in 2011, while net interest margin widened by 0.05 percentage point to 2.12 percent. The bank lent 682 billion yuan in new loans last year, taking the outstanding balance to 6.3 trillion yuan by December 31.
Its non-interest income jumped 21.41 percent to 100.2 billion yuan in 2011, with fees and commissions totaling 64.66 billion yuan, capping an annual rise of 18.68 percent.
Its capital adequacy ratio edged up by 0.39 percentage point to 12.97 percent. The NPL ratio dipped by 0.1 percentage point to 1 percent last year.
Guosen Securities expected the banks to see rising NPLs this year on an economic downturn and the regulator's stricter definition of loans.
Source:shanghaidaily