Bank of China's quarterly profit rises as bad loans advance

[HONG KONG] Bank of China Ltd, the nation's fourth largest lender by assets, reported a 1 per cent gain in quarterly profit as bad loans climbed amid the country's economic slowdown.

Net income rose to 44.9 billion yuan (US$7 billion) in the three months ended June 30 from 44.4 billion yuan a year earlier, based on first-half figures in an exchange filing on Friday. That compared with the 45 billion yuan median of 10 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Bank of China's nonperforming loans rose 24 per cent from the beginning of the year to 125 billion yuan as of June 30, according to the statement. Net interest margin was 2.18 per cent, down from 2.27 per cent a year earlier.

BLOOMBERG