Industrial Bank, one of China's 14 national shareholding banks, said on Tuesday its non-performing loan ratio dropped 2.43 percent from 2001 and 2005.

 

The bank, which is seeking a public listing on a Chinese mainland stock exchange, did not give an exact NPL ratio by the end of last year.

 

It said in a statement the bank, headquartered in Fuzhou, capital of East China's Fujian Province, has chalked up 5.81 billion yuan (US$726 million) in net profits over the past five years, representing a compound annual growth rate of 45.56 percent.

 

End of 2005 assets were 5.54 times that of five years ago, surging to 474 billion yuan, the bank said.

 

President of the bank, Li Renjie, said Industrial Bank is planning an initial public offering that may exceed 10 billion yuan prior to its listing on China's A-share market.

 

Meanwhile, it is mulling over the possibility of a share offering in Hong Kong.

 

China's national shareholding banks are smaller, by assets, than the "big four" state banks, who are also moving towards raising money by selling shares on stock exchanges.

 

Debt-laden Chinese banks expect public supervision will help streamline their operations, which is essential ahead of the full opening of China's financial market to foreign rivals by the end of this year.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 28, 2006)