Profits of China Minsheng Bank surge in Q1

China Minsheng Bank announced on Saturday that its net profits soared 15.08 percent year on year in the first quarter to 12.68 billion yuan (2.06 billion U.S. dollars). The bank witnessed rising profitability and steady shareholder returns in the first three months of the year, according to its quarterly report filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Its revenue rose 8.15 percent year on year to 31.23 billion yuan in the first quarter, and earnings per share surged by 15.38 percent to 0.45 yuan. Total assets edged up 1.73 percent from the end of last year to 3.28 trillion yuan by the end of March. The non-performing loans ratio edged up 0.02 percentage points from the end of 2013 to 0.87 percent, the bank said. Last year, China Minsheng Bank was ranked the sixth largest commercial bank and the 70th largest company in the country, according to a list of top-500 Chinese companies compiled by the China Enterprise Federation.