China Merchants Bank earnings up 14% in H1

China Merchants Bank, one of the largest lenders in China, registered rapid profit growth in the first half of the year thanks to robust retail businesses.

The bank's net profit jumped 14 percent year on year to 44.8 billion yuan (US$6.52 billion), the company said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The company's operating income increased by 11.75 percent to 126.1 billion yuan.

Retail financial businesses generated before-tax profit of 31.69 billion yuan, up 17.76 percent year on year, accounting for more than half the total before-tax operating profits.

The bank's non-performing loan ratio came in at 1.43 percent at the end of June, down 0.18 percentage point compared with the end of 2017.