ICBC Q1 net profit up 12 pct

BEIJING - The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world's largest lender by market value, on Friday said its net profit in the first quarter rose 12.08 percent year on year.

Its net profit stood at 68.74 billion yuan (11.02 billion US dollars) in the first quarter, the lender said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Its revenues climbed 11.29 percent year on year to 144.74 billion yuan in the first three months. Net interest income grew 8 percent year on year to 106.72 billion yuan in the first quarter.

Income from commissions and service fees surged 19.44 percent to 34.19 billion yuan in the three-month period, according to the statement.

The bank's non-performing loan ratio climbed by 0.02 percentage point from the end of 2012 to 0.87 percent at the end of March.

As of the end of March, the lender's assets totaled 18.35 trillion yuan, up 4.65 percent from the end of 2012.

ICBC's shares lost 0.74 percent to 4.05 yuan per share in Shanghai on Friday.