BEIJING, Oct. 22 -- China Minsheng Banking Corp, the nation's first privately-owned bank, said nine-month profit has surged 70 percent on loan growth and demand for wealth-management services.

    Net income climbed to 4.3 billion yuan (US$572.5 million), or 0.33 yuan a share, from 2.53 billion yuan, or 0.25 yuan a share, a year earlier, the Beijing-based bank said in a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange.

    China's banks, having raised US$22.4 billion in share sales this year, are making loans and expanding into wealth management in the world's fastest-growing major economy. Minsheng, founded in 1996 by 59 investors, including pig-feed tycoon Liu Yonghao, has averaged 40-percent profit growth since 2002, Bloomberg News said.

    China's economy may grow 10.8 percent this year, the fastest pace since 1995, the central bank forecasts. Lenders made 3.08 trillion yuan of loans in the first eight months, exceeding the central bank's full-year target of 2.5 trillion yuan.

    Minsheng's outstanding loans reached 687.3 billion yuan as of the end of September, a 25-percent jump from a year earlier. Non-performing loans accounted for 0.96 percent of the total, according to the statement.

    The Chinese government, concerned that loans are being used illegally to fund stock purchases, has asked banks to cap lending growth at 15 percent this year.

    Minsheng's net interest income rose 44.9 percent to 16 billion yuan, while income from fee-based services such as distribution of mutual funds and custodian services for asset-management firms more than doubled to 1.8 billion yuan.

    Beijing-based Minsheng raised US$2.3 billion in a share sale in March and plans to sell 20 billion yuan of bonds to boost capital and finance a targeted 19-percent increase in lending this year.　

    The lender agreed two weeks ago to buy as much as 20 percent of UCBH Holdings Inc, the biggest bank serving the Chinese community in the United States, marking its first acquisition overseas. Both firms specialize in lending to small and mid-sized companies.

    Minsheng has about 287 outlets nationwide, compared with 18,000 branches for Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, the nation's largest lender.

    For the third quarter, Minsheng reported net income rose to 1.5 billion yuan, or 0.12 yuan per share, without giving year-earlier comparative figures.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily)