China Construction Bank net profit up 31pc

HONG KONG: China Construction Bank, the world's No. 2 bank by market capitalisation, reported a higher-than-expected 31 percent rise in first-half earnings, helped by strong growth in fee-and-commission income.

CCB said it made a net profit of 92.8 billion yuan in January-June, compared with market expectations for a 92.3 billion yuan net profit and higher than the 70.7 billion yuan it made a year ago.

The bank is also China's biggest mortgage lender and most exposed to the country's red-hot real estate sector, with investors pushing its shares down by over a fifth in the past three months as worries about a property bubble grow.

Bank of America Corp owns about 10 percent of CCB and has held exploratory talks with the principal investment funds of Kuwait and Qatar about selling part of the stake, sources have said.

Copyright Reuters, 2011