Bank of China third-quarter profit rises 5pc

Bank of China (3988) reported a 5 percent year-on-year increase in third-quarter profit, reaching 60 billion yuan (HK$65.65 billion), thanks to a revitalized domestic securities market.

The state-owned bank's net interest income for the quarter rose 1.6 percent to 110.98 billion yuan. Meanwhile, net fee and commission income saw a gain of over 5 percent, totaling 18.8 billion yuan.

Looking at the first nine months of the year, the bank's profit increased by 1 percent to 177.66 billion yuan. 

However, net interest income for this period declined by 3 percent to 3.26 trillion yuan, with a net interest margin of 1.26 percent. In contrast, net fee and commission income grew by 8 percent to 65.59 billion yuan.

For the first three quarters, the bank's impairment losses stood at 80.52 billion yuan, a 6 percent reduction compared to the same period last year. 

The total non-performing loan amount was 288.67 billion yuan. The NPL ratio was 1.24 percent, down 0.01 percentage points from the end of last year, while the NPL provision coverage ratio decreased by 4 percentage points to 196.6 percent.