China's ICBC says it has become world's most profitable bank
Posted: 21 August 2008 1918 hrs

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BEIJING : Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the nation's top lender, said Thursday it had become the world's most profitable bank in the first half after earning 64.879 billion yuan (9.4 billion US).

"According to all the interim results that have been announced so far, ICBC has become the most profitable bank in the world in the first half of 2008," the bank said in a statement issued before a briefing in Beijing.

ICBC said its 9.4-billion-dollar profit after tax in the first six months of the year marked an increase of 56.75 per cent from the same period in 2007. Pre-tax profit figures were not immediately available.

ICBC's robust figures were due to strong growth in interest income and fee-based services, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

A lower 25 per cent corporate tax rate since the beginning of this year, compared with 33 per cent previously, also helped, Dow Jones said.

The lower tax rate reflected a new tax regime introduced January 1, unifying the taxes paid by foreign and local companies.

- AFP/ms