(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-19 23:04

BEIJING  -- China Merchants Bank (CMB), the country's largest credit card issuer, said on Wednesday its net profit surged 124.36 percent in 2007 from a year earlier on greater revenue from increasing loans and wider interest rate margins.

Profit jumped to 15.24 billion yuan (2.2 billion US dollars), or 1.04 yuan per share, the Shenzhen-based lender said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It stated it planned to offer a 2.8 yuan cash dividend for each 10 shares.

In 2006, its profit rose 81 percent to 6.79 billion yuan.

CMB's profit growth was faster than domestic rivals, including Huaxia Bank, China Minsheng Bank Corp. and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. The three mid-sized lenders posted profit growth of 44 percent, 69 percent, and 64 percent, respectively, last year.

Its revenue rose 65.35 percent to 40.96 billion yuan. Among the total, 33.90 billion yuan, or 82.77 percent, came from interest rate earnings and 15.72 percent, or 6.44 billion yuan from commission fees. The rate earnings and fees jumped 57.62 percent and 156.13 percent, respectively, from a year ago.

Its total assets were up 40.30 percent to 1.31 trillion yuan. Outstanding loans rose 19 percent to 673.17 billion yuan and outstanding deposits grew 21.94 percent to 943.53 billion yuan.

As China's economy grew by 11.4 percent last year this increased credit demand both from businesses and individuals.

The wider interest rate margin also contributed to earnings growth. The average rate margin increased by 27 basis points to 2.96 percent as the lending rate was up 43 basis points and the deposit rate was up 16 basis points.

The capital-adequacy ratio fell to 10.67 percent in 2007 from 11.39 percent a year earlier. Meanwhile, the non-performing loans ratio was down to 1.54 percent from 2.12 percent.

CMB shares gained 3.83 percent to 29.29 yuan in Shanghai despite news the central bank had raised the reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage points to a record high of 15.5 percent after the market closed on Tuesday.