2010-07-13 10:09

Agricultural Bank of China saw net profit rise 40 percent in the first half of the year to 46 billion yuan ($6.8 billion), the Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday.

Commission charges for the first half hit 23 billion yuan, up 60 percent from a year ago, while new loans grew 11.2 percent, the paper said quoting sources.

AgBank, which is scheduled to start trading on the Shanghai exchange on Thursday and in Hong Kong on Friday, could break all IPO records by raising more than $22 billion if over-allotment shares are added in.

The core capital adequacy ratio of Agbank is expected to rise beyond 10 percent after collecting its IPO proceeds, Moody's said in a report on Monday. [ABC IPO lifts core CAR, challenges remain: Moody's]

After the massive fundraising, Beijing-based AgBank, the last of China's big banking institutions to go public and with more than 320 million customers, still has to face hurdles in managing its vast network and concerns about its non-performing loans.