Minsheng rallies on profit growth
Non-interest income makes up for losses induced by rate cuts and deregulation
China Minsheng Banking, the nation's largest privately owned lender, said net profit surged 20 per cent in the first quarter as strong fee and commission earnings more than offset shrunken profits from making loans.
Net earnings totalled 11.02 billion yuan (HK$13.8 billion) in the January-March period, compared with 9.17 billion yuan in the same period last year, the bank said in a stock exchange filing yesterday.
The profit growth, generally in line with market expectations, was made as the bank stayed focused on "non-state-owned companies, small and micro enterprises, and high-end retail customers", it said.
Minsheng shares rallied 3.79 per cent to 10.13 yuan in Shanghai yesterday and climbed 2.85 per cent to HK$9.37 in Hong Kong.
The 20 per cent profit growth is widely expected to be the fastest among Hong Kong-listed mainland lenders, which will release interim results later this week.
However, it marked a significant slowdown from the 34.5 per cent net earnings increase for the whole of last year, as profits were eroded by two interest rate cuts last year and fiercer competition caused by the moves towards interest rate deregulation.