(30 April 2012 – China) The Beijing-based bank, China’s third largest by assets, said profit growth fell to 10 percent in the first quarter as China’s economic downturn curbed loan expansion and margins.Net income rose to US$5.8billion (A$5.5billion) from US$5,3 billion a year earlier. The bank advanced US$39 billion of new loans in the first quarter, 17 percent less than a year earlier.
China’s economy expanded at the slowest pace in almost three years during this first quarter, increasing pressure on the government to ease monetary policy. The People’s Bank of China, the central bank, in February cut lenders’ reserve requirements for the second time in three months to spur credit expansion and bolster economic growth without triggering increases in consumer and property prices.