Bank of China posts lower Q2 profit

Bank of China Ltd reported its slowest profit growth since the first quarter of 2013 after bad loans rose to the highest level in more than five years and the lender set aside provisions for more soured debt.

Net income rose about 8.5 percent to 44.4 billion yuan ($7.2 billion) in the three months ended June 30 from 40.9 billion yuan a year earlier, based on half-year figures released by the Beijing-based company on Tuesday. That compared with the 44.9 billion-yuan median of 10 estimates surveyed by Bloomberg.

Bank of China more than doubled provisions for potential bad debt to 12.7 billion yuan in the second quarter from a year earlier as the economy cooled and the property market slumped.