China Construction Bank announced a 4% drop in net profit in its first financial results since a US$9.2 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong last October. Net profit fell to US$5.88 billion in 2005 as a result of a large rise in income tax from US$270 million in 2004 to US$1.03 billion in 2005. Growth in new lending was also down compared with deposit growth, the former standing at 10.4% and the latter 15%. This was due to measures taken by Beijing to cool the economy which led to a number of CCB’s large state-owned clients being banned from borrowing money last year. The bank’s non-performing loan ration fell from 3.92% in 2004 to 3.84% in 2005, while net interest margin fell from 2.82% to 2.78% as a result of customers putting more money into lower-margin fixed deposit accounts.
Categories