BEIJING/Hong Kong, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world's largest lender by assets, reported on Friday a 9.97% rise in the third-quarter net profit.
Net profit was 111.958 billion yuan ($16.82 billion) for the three months ended September 30, compared to 101.805 billion yuan in the same period last year, the bank said in a filing.
The results suggest the lender is recovering from years of squeezed profitability amid a protracted property crisis, although weak credit demand and a slowing economy continued to weigh on them.
Net interest margin — a key gauge of profitability — was 1.29% at the end of September, remaining flat compared with the end of June.
Its non-performing loan ratio was 1.29% at the end of September, remaining steady compared to three months before.
($1 = 6.6552 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Ziyi Tang in Beijing and Selena Li in Hong Kong; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)