China's Ping An Bank net profit rises in Q1

BEIJING — Profits of Ping An Bank, a leading Chinese commercial bank, grew in the first quarter with its asset quality on the mend.

The Shenzhen-listed lender registered 6.2 billion yuan (about $900 million) net profit in the first three months, up 2.1 percent year-on-year, said the first quarter report released over the weekend.

The business revenue of the bank edged up 0.65 percent year-on-year in the first quarter to 27.7 billion yuan, on the back of growing revenue from credit cards and wealth management.

The bank's asset quality is improving, with its bad personal loan ratio declining to 1.44 percent from 1.57 percent at the end of last year. Total assets of the bank increased 1.79 percent to around 3 trillion yuan.

The share price of the lender on Friday rose 0.56 percent to 8.97 yuan prior to the release of the report.