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Pudong Bank full year net profit up 128%

By Wang Zhenghua (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-07 11:54

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, part-owned by Citigroup Inc, said yesterday its full year net profit rose 128 percent on higher interest income and lower taxes.

The Shanghai-based lender in a preliminary earnings statement said it expects to report a full year net profit of 12.5 billion yuan ($1.83 billion), or 2.21 yuan a share, compared with 5.5 billion yuan, or an adjusted 0.97 yuan in 2007.

The bank is scheduled to publish its final results on Feb 28.

Related readings:  Pudong Bank's $114m refinancing plan approved  SPDB to negotiate with Citigroup on stake increase  Shanghai Pudong Development Bank sees profit soar 31 percent  SPDB posts 30% increase in profits

"The (huge earnings) growth was not surprising," said Essence Securities analyst Gao Yuan. "The rosy performance was partly due to less tax payments, coupled with increased lending."

Analysts aver that most of the other banks are also expected to report satisfactory earnings. The 2008 earnings (of the banks) has been largely unaffected by the economic crisis. However, they expect lenders to allocate additional funds to cover for the anticipated rise in non-performing loans.

Banks are now heading for harsher climes as the rate cuts since September have squeezed interest spreads, their main source of income.

"The real impact of the interest rate cut will show up this year, or even in the second half of 2009," said Changjiang Securities analyst Liu Jun.

"Although the Chinese government encourages banks to lend, they will be cautious in doing so," he said.

Liu said he expects the quantum of bad debts to be small this year, as most of the domestic lenders have strengthened their risk control mechanisms.