ICBC profits up 7.5% despite industry slowdown

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (1398.HKG, 601398.SHA), China’s largest bank by market capitalization, reported a 10% increase in profit growth in the last quarter despite the nation’s current unpromising banking environment, Bloomberg reported, citing a Wednesday exchange filing. Net income rose 7.5% to RMB74.8 billion (US$12.2 billion) in the three months ended 30 June from a year earlier according to the Beijing-based company’s exchange filing. China’s banks are grappling with rising bad loans, a cooling economy and interest-rate deregulation that is boosting competition for deposits. In the second quarter, ICBC supported earnings by widening loan margins and limiting money set aside for bad loans.