ICBC 2013 profits up 10.2%

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest bank, on Thursday reported a 10.2-percent increase in its net profits in 2013. The bank's net profits stood at 263 billion yuan (42.42 billion U.S. dollars) last year, according to the company's financial report. ICBC planned to set aside nearly 92 billion yuan, or about 35 percent of the net profits, as cash dividends to its shareholders. At the end of 2013, ICBC's non-performing loans ratio was 0.94 percent, up 0.09 percentage points from the previous year. Its provision coverage ratio was 257.19 percent. The bank cut lending in risky sectors. Last year, outstanding loans to local government financing vehicles, property developers and industries with serious overcapacity problems declined by 94.3 billion yuan, 8.6 billion yuan and 19.9 billion yuan, respectively. ICBC also made progress in global business. Its overseas assets reached 209.2 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2013, surging 28.5 percent year on year.