CCB kicks off Q3 reports with 11.6% net profit gain

China Construction Bank Corp employees sit at a loan booth at an auto expo in Changsha, Hunan province. [Photo / Provided to China Daily]

China Construction Bank Corp said third-quarter net profit was up 11.6 percent year-on-year at 176.9 billion yuan ($29 billion), but the growth rate slowed by 1.07 percentage points compared with the first half.

CCB released its figures on Sunday, making it the first of the top five banks to report.

"The increase in net profits falls within expectations," said Hu Jiye, a finance professor at the China University of Political Science and Law. "However, a lot of off-balance sheet businesses weren't included in the statement.

"If these businesses were counted, the results might not look so good," he said.

"The overall net profit growth rate of the Chinese banking industry this year is estimated at 10 to 15 percent," said Guo Tianyong, professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics.

"State-owned banks' rates will be below the average, while joint-stock and private-sector banks will grow faster.

"Banks' growth rates are coming back down to earth after explosive expansion in the past few years. They will eventually drop to slightly above the GDP growth rate," Guo added.

CCB's nonperforming loans totaled 82.1 billion yuan, up 7.5 billion yuan from end-2012. The NPL rate, however, dropped 0.01 percentage point to 0.98 percent.

The quarterly growth rate of NPLs decelerated to 2.2 percent, compared with 4.2 percent and 3.3 percent in the first and second quarters, respectively.

The drop in the NPL growth rate indicates that the situation in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, where there's been a high rate of sourced loans, has been brought under control, said a report by Pingan Securities Co Ltd.

The net interest margin was 2.71 percent, unchanged from the half-year year report.