China's listed banks report stable profit growth in H1

BEIJING - China's listed banks registered stable growth in net profit in the first half of this year, with better asset quality, data showed.

Of the 14 listed banks that have released semi-annual reports or earnings estimates, 13 saw double-digit growth in revenue and 11 saw net profit rise by more than 10 percent.

China Merchants Bank, one of the largest lenders in China, raked in 50.6 billion yuan ($7.18 billion) in net profit attributable to shareholders, up 13 percent year-on-year.

Ping An Bank, a Shenzhen-listed lender controlled by Ping An Insurance, reported a 15.2-percent growth in net profits in the first half, while its non-performing loan ratio went down 0.07 percentage points from the end of last year.

Wang Yifeng, an analyst with Everbright Securities, said that the listed banks are expected to report a 5 to 6-percent growth in combined net profits, with smaller interest rate spreads putting pressure on second-quarter revenue.

Amid government push to address risks in the financial sector, the banks have adopted stricter risk control policies, leading to better asset quality, analysts said.

By the end of the first half, a total of 13 banks kept their non-performing loan ratio within 2 percent, with nine seeing a year-on-year decrease in the ratio, data showed.