By Yongchang Chin

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.'s 2021 profit rose as the value of its loans grew. The Chinese lender reported annual net profit of 348.34 billion yuan ($54.73 billion), up from CNY315.91 billion in the previous year.

The bank's net interest income was CNY690.68 billion, compared with CNY646.77 billion previously, while net fee and commission income was CNY133.02 billion versus CNY131.22 billion, the company said Wednesday.

Operating income was CNY860.88 billion, higher than CNY800.08 billion in 2020. Corporate banking contributed 46% to last year's operating income figure, while personal banking accounted for 40.2% of it, the lender said.

As of the end of 2021, ICBC said total loans were CNY20.667 trillion, up 11% from end-2020. Of these, yuan-denominated loans comprised CNY18.930 trillion, rising 13%.

The quality of its loans also improved, with ICBC's nonperforming-loan ratio at 1.42 in 2021 versus 1.58 in 2020.

"In 2022, the global economy is expected to continue its rebound, but tensions in the global supply chain and energy supplies may persist," it said. "At present, the Chinese economy faces pressures from three fronts, namely shrinking demand, supply shock and weakening expectations, but the momentum of sustained recovery and development has not changed, and its economic fundamentals remain strong in the long term," the lender said.

ICBC added that "the accelerated shift in monetary policy of major economies and the upward shift in interest rate centers will pose challenges to the banking sector in terms of liquidity management, asset allocation and optimization of the debt structure."


Write to Yongchang Chin at yongchang.chin@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-30-22 0528ET