Shenzhen Development Bank Co, controlled by United States buyout firm TPG Inc, yesterday rose after saying profit may have risen as much as 80 percent in the first nine months on improved margins, higher fee income and lower taxes.

Net income may climb to between 3.28 billion yuan (US$480 million) and 3.37 billion yuan, from 1.87 billion yuan a year earlier, according to a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange yesterday.

Chinese banks, which posted a combined 67-percent jump in first half profit, are expected to report slower earnings growth from the third quarter on borrower defaults and narrower loan margins, Everbright Securities Co said last month.

China's government has cut interest rates twice over the past months as it tries to revive an economy that grew at the slowest pace since 2005 in the second quarter as the property market contracted, the outlook for exports dimmed and the global credit crisis worsened, Bloomberg News said.

Shenzhen Development posted a 91-percent gain in net income in the first half. The bank said last month it will raise as much 28 billion yuan selling bonds to bolster capital after scrapping a planned share sale to Baosteel Group Corp.

Shares of Shenzhen Development have dropped 68 percent this year.

(Shanghai Daily October 14, 2008)