ICBC posts US$4.2b net profit By Zheng Lifei (China Daily) Updated: 2006-07-06 08:46 The ICBC was restructured into a joint-stock lender last October and in
January it picked up Goldman Sachs, Allianz Group and American Express as
overseas strategic investors, who bought about 10 per cent of the bank at a cost
of US$3.78 billion.
"The improved operation and efficiency at the
country's largest bank, which is shown in its report, is sure to boost foreign
investors' confidence in China's banking reform and the industry as a whole,"
Zhang said.
The ICBC officially inaugurated its co-operation with Goldman
Sachs in March, collaborating with the strategic investors in seven areas such
as NPL management, asset management and staff training.
The bank
announced last month that it would restructure its head office in a further bid
to improve corporate governance and operational efficiency.
The revamp
will focus on three areas corporate business, financial affairs and
capital transaction and the bank will add 10 new departments, including
credit approval and risk management, and will cut seven other
divisions.
The bank's outstanding deposits stood at 5,66 trillion yuan
(US$708 billion) by the end of last year, up 10.8 per cent, a record increase
for the lender, the report said.
Its outstanding loans stood at 3.29
trillion yuan (US$411 billion), an increase of 5.8 per cent.
The lender
spun off a total of 635 billion yuan (US$79.4 billion) NPLs last year during its
financial restructuring.
The bank's assets reached 6,45 trillion yuan
(US$806 billion) by the end of last year, up 28 per cent from the previous year,
according to the report.
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