China’s top banks see third-quarter profits jump

Five of China’s largest state banks saw third-quarter profits rise by more than 10% as bad loans held steady, even as smaller lenders felt tremors from the ongoing debt woes at developer Evergrande.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s largest bank, reported on Friday a 10.6% rise in third-quarter net profit from a year earlier, while Bank of China Ltd (BoC) said its profit climbed 13.2%. Smaller Bank of Communications Co (BoCom) saw quarterly profit jump 37.9% and China Construction Bank Corp’s (CCB) earnings rose 15.6%. They followed solid results from Agricultural Bank of China Ltd (AgBank) on Thursday, with a 14% rise in quarterly profit.

The non-performing loan ratios at all five lenders fell slightly or held steady at the end of the third quarter compared with the end of the previous three months.

However, overall, net interest margins - a key indicator of bank profitability - stabilised or slipped at the end of the third quarter from the second quarter.

China Evergrande Group, once the country’s top-selling real estate developer, is reeling under more than $300 billion in liabilities, fuelling worries about the impact of its fate on the world’s second-largest economy as well as on global markets.