ICBC matches forecast with 28% increase in Q3 net profit

ICBC's third-quarter net profit rose 28 percent, helped by an interest rate hike and strong growth in fee income.


Reuters reported that the bank registered a net profit of 54.36 billion yuan in July-September from 42.16 billion yuan recorded during the same time last year, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

It was also in line with forecasts for a 54.5 billion yuan net profit, according to a Reuters poll of 12 analysts.

Fee and commission income rose 43 percent from a year ago to 78.3 billion yuan. ICBC's investment banking arm is ICBC International, which snagged several high-profile deals including being joint bookrunner for CITIC Securities' $1.7 billion Hong Kong share sale.

Net interest income rose 20.5 percent to 267 billion yuan, helped by a widening net interest margin.

Higher interest rates typically help banks by allowing them to charge more for loans. Deposit rates are capped in China.