(Yicai Global) July 4 — Bank of Nanjing, in which French banking giant BNP Paribas is the largest investor, reported a 20 percent leap in net profit in the first half of the year.
Net profit was CNY10.2 billion (USD1.5 billion) in the six months ended June 30, versus CNY8.5 billion (USD1.2 billion) a year earlier, the Nanjing-based commercial lender said in a statement yesterday. Operating revenue rose 16.3 percent to CNY23.5 billion.
Bank of Nanjing’s non-performing loan rate was 0.9 percent as of the end of June, down 0.01 percentage points from the beginning of the year, it added, noting that its assets rose 9.5 percent to CNY1.9 trillion (USD284 billion) in the period. The lender’s provision coverage ratio remained at about 395.2 percent.
On June 29, Bank of Nanjing said that its president Lin Jingran had resigned from all positions at the bank for work-related reasons. Soon after the announcement, some screenshots of a conversation of Fu Mingfei, chief communications analyst at Western Securities, suggesting customers at Bank of Nanjing that they transfer their deposits as soon as possible because the lender had a big deficit started circulating online.
On July 1, Bank of Nanjing denied the rumors and reported them to the police. One day later, Western Securities fired Fu.
The bank also announced on July 1 that it will replace its seal after a long service life, as it had been worn out. Replacing a seal is generally due to problems related to the old seal or internal control, and it cannot be used to judge the financial situation of a company, according to some industry insiders.
Founded in 1996, Bank of Nanjing is a joint-stock commercial bank with an independent legal personality. It was the first Chinese lender to release the first-half financial results this year.
Bank of Nanjing’s stock price [SHA: 601009] was trading down 1.4 percent at CNY10.15 (USD1.52) as of today’s lunch break.
Editor: Futura Costaglione