Shanghai bank profits rise 25%

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, a mid-sized Chinese lender, saw its profits reach 34.16 billion yuan (5.43 billion U.S. dollars) last year, a preliminary financial report showed. The figure marked a rise of 25.2 percent year on year, but slowed from the 42.02-percent rate recorded in 2011 due to economic headwinds, the lender's data showed. The Shanghai-based bank reported 82.62 billion yuan in revenues in 2012, an increase of 21.64 percent from a year earlier, according to a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange late Friday. Earnings per share climbed 25.15 percent year on year to reach 1.83 yuan, while total assets rose to 3.15 trillion yuan at the end of 2012, up 17.28 percent from the end of 2011, the statement said. Meanwhile, its non-performing loan ratio increased to 0.58 percent from 0.44 percent at the end of 2011, it said. The increased ratio is tolerable, as economic growth has stabilized and banks have increased provisions against bad loans, analysts said.