ICBC fourth quarter profit up 32% to $5.7bn

Rising interest rates have helped China’s “Big Four” banks record double-digit profit surge.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, the world's largest bank by market value, said on Wednesday that its fourth-quarter net profit rose 32 percent, in line with forecasts, because of margin expansion over the past year.

ICBC recorded a 37.9 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) profit for the October-December quarter, up from 28.6 billion yuan ($4.37 million) a year earlier. The result was roughly in line with market expectations for a 38.5 billion yuan ($5.87 million) profit according to Thomson Reuters.

The bank posted a full-year net profit of 165.16 billion yuan ($25.21 million), up 28 percent from 128.6 billion yuan ($19.64 million) in 2009 and roughly in line with a consensus forecast of 163.3 billion yuan ($24.93 million) from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

ICBC is the last of China's 'Big Four' state-controlled banks to report 2010 earnings. Rising interest rates have helped the banks post double-digit profit growth.

View the full story in Reuters.