ICBC says 1H net profit rises to record US$9.4 bln

ICBC says 1H net profit rises to record US$9.4 bln : China's biggest said Thursday that its first-half net profit jumped 57 percent from a year earlier to a record 64.5 billion yuan (US$9.4 billion), surpassing international rivals embroiled in the credit crisis. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China's profit compared with 41 billion yuan for the same period last year. "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. Chinese banks, with little exposure to U.S. mortgage securities and a booming economy back home, have flourished despite the miseries afflicting banks in the United States and Europe. ICBC's earnings, which were in line with analysts' expectations, surpassed those of Britain's HSBC... [read full story]