Huaxia Bank announced a 16% gain in first-half profit as the country's booming economy drove higher demand for loans. The Beijing-based lender, which is partly owned by Deutsche Bank, said in a preliminary earnings statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Wednesday that net profit rose to US$93 million in the six months to June 30, up from US$80 million a year ago. Revenue climbed 28% to US$1.02 billion from US$801 million. The bank is scheduled to report its detailed first-half earnings on August 31. The profit announcement comes as Beijing struggles to control surging bank lending, which hit US$272 billion in the first six months, almost 90% of the central bank's full-year target of US$313 billion.
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