Banks post strong results for the first half

Chinese banks recorded strong business results and improved asset quality for the first half while lending more support to the real economy.

By the end of June, total assets of the Bank of Ningbo had exceeded 1.5 trillion yuan (US$218 billion) and its non-performing loan ratio was 0.79 percent, much lower than the industry average.

In the first half, the company achieved operating income of 19.9 billion yuan, while net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company came to 7.84 billion yuan, both of which maintained good growth momentum.

In the face of the global spread of the COVID-19 epidemic and downward pressure on the macro economy, Bank of Ningbo extended interest-free loans of 11 billion yuan, benefiting 39,000 small and micro enterprises.

Shenzhen-based Ping An Bank said its core business remained resilient, and the ability to offset risks was further enhanced in the first six months of the year.

The bank achieved operating income of 78.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.5 percent and its operating profit before impairment loss rose 18.9 percent to 56.1 billion yuan.

At the same time, affected by the uncertainty brought by the epidemic, it increased the provision coverage ratio to 214.93 percent, up 31.81 percentage points from the end of the previous year.

This resulted in an 11.2 percent decline in net profit (13.6 billion yuan), its semi-annual performance report showed.

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, a joint-stock commercial bank, said “the operation of the whole bank is stable” in its interim report.

From January to June, it achieved operating income of 101.4 billion yuan, an increase of 3.90 percent and reaped net profit of nearly 29 billion yuan.

Both non-performing loans and NPL loan ratio fell during the reporting period, and the provision coverage ratio increased by 12.23 percentage points compared with the beginning of the year.

To better serve the real economy, it issued 50 billion yuan of financial bonds and 40 billion yuan of secondary capital bonds.

The balance of inclusive financial loans grew faster than other types of funding and the customer base was further expanded, according to the report.