With nonperforming loans now at a five-year high of RMB 89.5 billion (US$14.56 billion) and growth slowing to a five-quarter low, state-owned Bank of China more than doubled provisions for bad loans in the second quarter to RMB 12.7 billion, Bloomberg reported based on figures released by the company yesterday. Net income rose 8.5 percent to RMB 44.4 billion, and the bank had RMB 8.4 trillion of loans outstanding as of June 30, up 11% from the end of last year. Its capital adequacy ratio, a measure of financial strength, was 11.8 percent, down from 12.5 percent in December, and its Tier-1 buffer was 9.37 percent.