ICBC profit slows, bad loans rise

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest lender by market value, said its net profit growth has slowed significantly amid a subdued economy.

The bank's net profit grew 7.2 percent year on year to 148.4 billion yuan (24.1 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of the year, shrinking 5.2 percentage points compared to same period last year, according to its report filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Business revenue amounted to 316.9 billion yuan during the period, 75 percent of which is attributable to net interest income, the report showed.

By the end of June, the lender's non-performing loans rose to 105.7 billion yuan, with the bad loan ratio edging up 0.01 percentage points from the end of March to 0.99 percent.

The bank said it will continue to strengthen controls on the scale of loans to local governments, the property sector and some over-supplied industries.

The latest report followed filings by Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China which all showed slowing profit growths as economic momentum remains sluggish.

China's economy grew 7.4 percent year on year in the first half of 2014, slower than the official target of around 7.5 percent.

Although growth showed more recovery in the second quarter, with expansion accelerating to 7.5 percent from 7.4 percent in the first, latest data suggested that the recovery foundation has yet to stabilize.

The HSBC/Markit China flash manufacturing PMI for August dipped to 50.3 from a final reading of 51.7 in July, making it the lowest rate in three months.