BEIJING, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Agricultural Bank of China, one of China's biggest state-owned commercial lenders, reported higher net profit and earnings in the first three quarters.
The bank's net profit attributable to equity holders climbed 5.28 percent year on year to 180.67 billion yuan (about 25.54 billion U.S. dollars) in the nine-month period, according to a statement of the bank filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
During the same period, business revenue edged up 3.83 percent to 474.98 billion yuan, with earnings per share unchanged at 0.51 yuan compared to the same period last year.
By the end of September, the bank's non-performing loan ratio came in at 1.42 percent, 0.17 percentage points lower than a year earlier.
The bank's provision coverage ratio, a measure of funds set aside to cover bad loans, rose to 281.26 percent by the end of September, up 29.08 percentage points from the end of last year.
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