BEIJING - The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), one of the country's "big four" State-owned commercial lenders, said Thursday that it expects its net profits in the first half of 2011 to jump more than 45 percent year-on-year.

The bank said in a statement filed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the profit surge was the result of stable development, continuous growth in net profit margins and a rapid increase in commission fees and net interest income.

ABC's net profit for the first half of 2010 was 45.84 billion yuan ($7.05 billion). The bank's net profit went up 46 percent to hit 94.91 billion yuan last year.

The bank raised a record $22.1 billion in its initial public offering on the Shanghai and Hong Kong bourses last year.

Shares of the bank dropped 0.75 percent to rest at 2.66 yuan per share in Shanghai and tumbled 3.29 percent to hit HK$3.82 per share on the Hong Kong bourse.