Minsheng Bank H1 profit surges 36.9 pct

BEIJING, Aug 23, 2012 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- China Minsheng Banking Corp., Ltd.announced Thursday that its net profit surged 36.9 percent to 19billion yuan (3 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of thisyear.

Business revenues rose 32.43 percent to 51.5 billion yuan inthe first half, the lender said in a statement released lateThursday.

The non-performing loan ratio was 0.69 percent and provisioningcoverage ratio was 352 percent at the end of June, the bank said.

The bank's total assets hit nearly 2.59 trillion yuan by theend of June, up 16 percent from the end of last year.

Its outstanding loans for small businesses reached 250.7billion yuan, with the number of borrowers in the sector reaching641,300, the statement said.