CCB's Q1 profit down 18.22%

Apr. 27, 2009 (China Knowledge) - China Construction Bank Corp (CCB)<601939><939>, one of the country's Big Four state-owned commercial banks, reported a net profit of RMB 26.3 billion (US$3.85 billion) for the first quarter of this year, down 18.22% from a year earlier, according to a statement CCB released on Friday.

Its basic earnings per share plunged 21.43% year on year to stand at RMB 0.11, while its net asset value per share climbed 5.50% from the end of 2008 to RMB 2.11 at the end of March.

In the same period, the lender's interest income fell 6.55% to RMB 50.87 billion, due to the five consecutive interest rate cuts by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, since September, said the report.

At the end of the first quarter, CCB's non-performing loans (NPL) decreased by RMB 1.95 billion to RMB 81.9 billion, with its NPL ratio falling 0.31% to 1.90%.

The lender's total assets swelled 14.8% from the end of 2008 to RMB 8.67 trillion at the end of March, while its customers' deposits hit RMB 7.21 trillion, up 13.15% from the end of last year.