China Everbright Bank's profits rise 30%

Net profits at China Everbright Bank, a mid-sized lender, rose 30.74 percent in 2012 to 23.62 billion yuan (3.79 billion U.S. dollars), according to the bank on Wednesday. Its total assets value hit 2.28 trillion yuan at the end of 2012, up 31.56 percent from the previous year. Earnings per share went up 28.89 percent year on year to 0.58 yuan at the end of 2012, a report filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange said. Net profits were boosted by increasing assets that brought interest, improved net interest ratio and increasing non-interest revenues. Reasons for the increasing assets include growth in bonds investments and loans. However, the report did not reveal its non-performing loan ratio in the fourth quarter or for the whole year. The bank had said its non-performing loan ratio was 0.7 percent in the third quarter, up 0.06 percentage point from the second. Its non-performing loans stood at 730 million yuan in the third quarter, up 12 percent from the previous quarter. China Everbright Bank is the second lender that has publicized its annual performances this year after Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPD), another mid-sized lender. SPD's profits reached 34.16 billion yuan in 2012, up 25.2 percent year on year, but down from the 42.02-percent growth rate of 2011, according to a statement it filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Jan. 4.