Profit increases reported

China Construction Bank said it earned a pre-tax profit of Yn4.3bn in 2002, less than half the figure of Yn9.2bn reported for 2001. Pre-provision profit rose by 16.2 per cent to Yn34.4bn, but Yn30.1bn was used to write off bad loans. The bank said its non-performing loans ratio fell by 2.9 percentage points in 2002. Agricultural Bank of China, the smallest of the big four stateowned commercial banks, reported a book profit of Yn2.89bn in 2002, 151 per cent higher than in 2001.