Record China Bank Profits to Be Overshadowed by Bad Loans
This article is for subscribers only.
China’s biggest banks, set to post record profits for a fifth year, may report 2011 results marred by an increase in bad loans as an economic slowdown and faltering property market trigger defaults by borrowers.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s most profitable lender, and its four biggest local rivals may post a 15 percent increase in combined fourth-quarter net income when they report this month, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Their non-performing loans rose for the first time since the third quarter of 2008, the banking regulator said last month.