ICBC weathers bad loan crunch in Q3

NPL ratio dropped by 3bp YoY to 1.53%.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) was able to keep a lid on its non-performing loans as NPL ratio dropped by 1bp QoQ and 3bp YoY to 1.53%, according to UOB Kay Hian.

The slowdown comes even as bad loan balance rose by 6.5% YoY to $33.94b (RMB234b).

The world’s biggest bank by assets also reported rising profits in Q3 at $11.37b (RMB79.19b) on the back of double-digit growth in fees and stringent cost control. The positive earnings performance has also been observed alongside its four state-owned peers.

However, it is a different case for rural lenders who are bearing the brunt of the country’s ballooning bad loan problem.

Rural commercial banks have the highest NPL ratio amongst the country's lenders in Q1 at 3.26% compared to the joint stock banks and city commercial banks whose NPL ratios are at 1.7% and 1.53% respectively.