By Xie Fang
Hua Xia Bank Co. (600015), whose stocks are included in the Morgan Stanly Capital International (MSCI) Emerging Markets Index, released its audited semi-annual financial statements on Monday, reporting a modest profit growth during the first half of 2018.
The statements show that the bank generated a total of over RMB 32.87 billion in its operating revenue over the reporting period, which has dropped by 1.44 percent when compared to the same period last year. However, its net profit grew by 2.02 percent year-on-year to hit RMB 10.03 billion by the end of June 2018.
The bank’s basic earnings per share climbed by 2.86 percent from the previous year to reach RMB 0.72, while its weighted average rate of return on equity fell by 0.58 percentage points to 6.01 percent.
The bank’s total assets slightly rose by 2.2 percent from the beginning of this year to reach more than RMB 2.56 trillion by the end of June.
During the reporting period, the bank extended around RMB 1.53 trillion in loans, an increase of 10.29 percent from the beginning of 2018. Whereas, its total deposits grew by only 1.95 percent over the first half of 2018.
The bank said in the statements that it had improved its management capability during the fiscal period, with its cost-to-income ratio down by 0.23 percentage points.
What’s more, the bank also provided more financial support for small businesses during the period, with the outstanding loans to small and micro enterprises increasing by nearly 21 percent from the beginning of the year.
