Foreign banks double profits in 2011: PwC   

2011年外资银行在华利润翻倍 未来3年或均增20%

普华永道会计师事务所17日发布最新《外资银行在中国》的年度调查报告，结果显示外资银行2011年的总利润增增长逾一倍，由2010年的77.8亿元(人民币，下同)增加至去年的167.3亿元。75%的受访银行预计未来3年在中国将保持20%的年均收入增长。

Hong Kong (CNS) -- Foreign banks in China more than doubled their profits last year to 16.73 billion yuan (US$2.63 billion) from 7.78 billion yuan in 2010, according to a report released Tuesday by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

About 75 percent of the surveyed banks expect a yearly profit growth of around 20 percent in the coming three years, the report says.

Apart from positive profit margin and asset growth, foreign banks have also taken considerable shares in major market sectors, says Mervyn Jacob, partner and leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers China and Hong Kong Financial Services Practice.

41 foreign banks were surveyed, including HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bank of East Asia, as well as Belgian and Russian banks. Most of the CEOs believe that RMB internationalization and interest rate liberalization will be the next development push, particularly for the debt capital market, structured products, interest rate swaps and cross-currency interest rate swap services.

The richer experiences of foreign banks in the foreign exchange swap business will further benefit cross-border trade financing growth, according to the report.

China's transformation from export-oriented to a domestic-demand driven economy will bring more diversified opportunities to foreign banks, Jacob says. Most of the banks interviewed will turn to newly-emerging markets such as modern agriculture, information technology and eco-friendly energy, he adds.

All of the interviewees support Shanghai's goal to become an international finance hub by 2020. Half have adjusted their business blueprints with that in mind, focusing on structured financing products for the shipping, aviation and infrastructure industries.

The foreign banks have also allocated their major derivatives R&D and commodity transaction departments to Shanghai in view of the city's ambition to become one of the world's five largest trade centers for derivatives.

In addition, more than half plan to enlarge their Shanghai teams in 2015, which means 20,000 positions would be added to the current base of 35,000.

Most foreign banks are not frustrated with China's economic slowdown and have an even stronger desire to explore the market, PwC states in the report.