HONG KONG, April 27 (Reuters) – Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China Ltd, the world’s biggest bank by market
value, reported on Friday a market-lagging 14 percent rise in
first-quarter profit, hit by weaker-than-expected fee and
commission income.
ICBC said it made a net profit of 61.34 billion
yuan in the first quarter, lower than expectations of 62.22
billion yuan, according to a Reuters survey of five analysts.
ICBC’s first-quarter profit last year was 53.8 billion yuan.
A day earlier, Bank of China, the country’s No. 3
lender by market value, posted a disappointing 9.8 percent rise
in first-quarter profit as the economy slowed due to sluggish
export markets and after Beijing’s earlier policy-tightening
moves. But the bank’s fee income grew 14 percent.
China’s banking industry has come under fire this year, as
customers and politicians have cried out that the sector’s
massive profits are coming at the expense of citizens. Low
deposit rates, coupled with steady customer fees are at the
heart of the protests.
Singapore state investor Temasek is now a 1.3
percent shareholder in ICBC, after buying $2.3 billion worth of
ICBC’s Hong Kong-listed shares this month from seller Goldman
Sachs. Goldman still owns $3 billion worth of ICBC
shares, which the U.S. bank has held since the Chinese bank’s
2006 IPO.
ICBC’s $241 billion market capitalisation is almost equal to
that of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup
and Bank of America combined, and more than 30 percent
greater than Europe’s top four investment banks.
ICBC’s Hong Kong-listed shares have risen about 11 percent
so far this year, largely in line with the benchmark Hang Seng
Index’s 12 percent advance.
