Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (601398) Ltd., the world’s most profitable lender, said first- quarter earnings rose 29 percent as the country’s economic growth spurred lending and fee income.
Net income climbed to 53.8 billion yuan ($8.3 billion), or 0.15 yuan a share, from 41.5 billion yuan, or 0.12 yuan, a year earlier, the Beijing-based company said in a statement today. That exceeded the 51.1 billion yuan median estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Chinese banks led by ICBC are countering a slowdown in credit growth by charging more for corporate and home loans after the central bank raised interest rates four times since October and reduced the money available for lending to curb inflation. The banks are on course for 20 percent growth in profits in 2011 and 2012, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
ICBC’s net interest income, which reflects the difference in revenue from lending and the cost of deposits, rose 25 percent to 85.4 billion yuan in the first quarter. Net fee and commission income from products and services such as credit cards, wealth management and insurance sales rose 42 percent to 25.9 billion yuan in the year, according to the statement.
No comments:
Post a Comment