Ping An, Huaxia banks' Q3 profits slow

BEIJING -- Ping An Bank Co Ltd and Huaxia Bank Co Ltd, two mid-sized Chinese lenders, announced on Friday that their net profits rose at a slower pace in the third quarter this year compared with the first half.

The Shenzhen-based Ping An Bank saw its net profits rise 17.6 percent year on year in the July-September period, bringing its total net profits in the first three quarters to 10.24 billion yuan ($1.64 billion), the bank said in a statement filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Friday.

The profit growth eased from the 43-percent rate registered for the first half of 2012.

The bank's non-performing loan ratio was 0.8 percent by the end of September, up 0.27 percentage points compared to the level at the end of 2011, according to the statement.

Ping An attributed the higher ratio to bad loans in manufacturing and commerce, especially those in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou, which has been embroiled in a debt crisis caused by unregulated private lending since late last year.

The bank's total assets hit 1.48 trillion yuan at the end of September, up 17.4 percent from the beginning of the year, said the statement.

The net profits of Beijing-based Huaxia Bank gained 36.73 percent year on year to hit 3.11 billion yuan in the third quarter, said a statement filed by the financial institution to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The profit growth was milder than the 42.36 percent recorded in the first six months.

Its total assets expanded to 1.44 trillion yuan as of the end of September, up 16.26 percent from three quarters earlier.

Compared with the end of June, the bank's NPL ratio stayed flat at 0.85 percent, according to the statement.