China Construction Bank Q1 profits fall 18.3 pct

HONG KONG, April 24 - China Construction Bank , the world's second-biggest lender by value, on Friday said first-quarter earnings fell 18.3 percent, hit in part by provisions set aside earlier in the year.

The government-controlled bank said first-quarter net profit fell to 26.3 billion yuan ($3.85 billion), from a net profit of 32.1 billion in the year-earlier period.

CCB was expected to say results fell by about 18 percent, the average forecast of analysts at Macquarie and UBS showed.

Its net interest income, mainly driven by lending, reached 50.9 billion yuan in the first quarter, down 6.6 percent, while fee and commission income was 11.8 billion, up 10.4 percent.

Net interest margins fell to 2.58 percent at end-March as the average yield of interest earning assets decreased, hurt by consecutive cuts in interest rates by the central bank and ample market liquidity.

CCB's Hong Kong-listed shares rose 4 cents to HK$4.42 on Friday. The shares have risen 3.3 percent so far this year through Thursday, trailing a 5.7 percent gain on the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

CCB is 16.6 percent owned by Bank of America and has been listed in Shanghai since September 2007. (Reporting by Jacqueline Wong; Editing by Andrew Macdonald) ($1=6.826 Yuan)