Record quarter for ICBC as loan margins widen

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, the world's largest lender by assets, posted a record quarterly profit by boosting loan margins and limiting provisions for bad loans.

Net income climbed 7.5 percent to 74.8 billion yuan ($12.2 billion) in the second quarter, based on figures released by the bank on Thursday. That matched the median estimate of 74.8 billion yuan from 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Second-quarter profit growth compared with a 6.6 percent gain in the first quarter, the slowest pace since 2009.