China Construction Bank : posts 5% rise in first quarter profit

China Construction Bank Ltd (CCB), the country's second-largest lender by assets, posted a 5.12% increase in first-quarter profit.

CCB said net profit was 80.855 billion yuan ($11.43 billion)for the January-March period, versus 76.92 billion yuan a year earlier.

CCB's non-performing loan (NPL) ratio was 1.42% at the end of March, up from 1.42% three months earlier. The sector-wide NPL ratio was 2.04% in Q1, according to the banking and insurance regulator, the highest since the global financial crisis.

The bank's net interest margin, a key measure of profitability, narrowed to 2.19% at the end of March, versus 2.26% at the end of 2019.

(Reporting by Cheng Leng, Zhang Yan in Beijing, Engen Tham in Shanghai; Editing by Alex Richardson)