ICBC H1 profit to grow 64%: analysts

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the largest commercial lender in the country, is expected to book net profit up to RMB 67.1 billion in the first half of this year, up 64% year-on-year, sources cited analysts as saying.

The sound growth is boosted by the continued widening net interest margin, stable growth in fee income, and improved asset quality, according to Merrill Lynch, who is optimistic about ICBC's interim earnings.
Merill Lynch forecasts the net profit of ICBC to grow 64% to RMB 67.1 billion, and net interest income to rise 33% to RMB 135.6 billion.

Credit Suisse, another financial services company which is also optimistic about the interim earnings of ICBC, predicted the Chinese lender's interim net earnings in the first half to surge 64%, and net profit in the second quarter this year to grow only 3% to RMB 34 billion from the first quarter.

ICBC has announced on Jul. 3 that the bank's net income is expected to rise more than 50% in the first half this year, which indicates it would surpass the profit HSBC booked in the first half. If so, ICBC will overtake HSBC as the world's most profitable bank.

ICBC will reveal its earning results in the first half on Thursday afternoon.