Hong Kong listed Bank of Communications announced here on Monday its half year net profit of 4.61 billion renminbi yuan (570 million US dollars), compared with a net loss of 1.91 billion yuan (235 million US dollar) a year earlier.

Its pre-tax profit rose 173 percent year-on-year to 6.88 billion yuan (850 million US dollars) in the half year and its end-June non-performing loan ratio improved to 2.45 percent, compared with 2.91 percent at end-2004.

The bank said its net interest income during the period rose to14.94 billion yuan (1.8 billion US dollars) from 11.39 billion yuan (1.4 billion US dollars).

Bank of Communications is the fifth largest commercial bank in the Chinese mainland. It operates 92 branches and 2,413 sub-branches throughout the country.

The bank went public in June in Hong Kong by selling 5.9 billion shares, or 12.38 percent of its enlarged issued share capital to global investors, raising 4.6 billion HK dollars (1.8 billion US dollars).

Source: Xinhua