China Cinda profit jumps 23.6 pct in 2013

In its first quarterly report since an initial public offering in November, China Cinda Asset Management said its net profit for 2013 rose 23.6 percent to reach 9.03 billion yuan ($1.45 billion).

The bad loans business made up the largest business sector of the Hong Kong-listed company, contributing 21.8 billion yuan, or 51.5 percent of the company's annual revenue, Cinda said in its Friday report.

Pre-tax profit for the sector contributed 8.3 billion yuan, or 70.6 percent of the total profit, the company said.

China Cinda was created in 1999 as a bailout vehicle for China's bad debts. It is one of the four largest State-owned asset management companies in China.

Cinda's asset expansion reflected the increasing level of distressed loans in China as the economy entered a downward economic cycle. Wu Songyun, vice-president of the company, said in a statement that the majority of bad loans that Cinda purchased last year were in the country's eastern Yangtze River Delta region. The loans were primarily in the steel trade, shipbuilding and solar energy sectors.