(Yicai) Aug. 24 -- Profit at China Construction Bank rose 3.4 percent in the first half from a year ago despite the major state-owned lender’s net interest margin falling.

Net profit was CNY167.3 billion (USD23 billion) in the six months ended June 30, the Beijing-based bank said in an earnings report filed yesterday. Revenue fell 0.6 percent to CNY400.3 billion.

CCB’s net interest margin, a key measure of profitability, fell by 30 basis points to 1.79 percent from a year ago, shaving 1.7 percent off net interest income at CNY312.2 billion. Non-interest income rose 3.7 percent to CNY88.1 billion, with CNY70.6 billion coming from fees and commissions, while the lender’s impairment loss shrank 7.8 percent to CNY95.4 billion.

The Shanghai-traded shares of CCB [SHA: 601939], China’s second-biggest lender by assets and the first of the country’s big five commercial banks to report interim earnings this week, fell 1.5 percent to CNY5.95 (82 US cents) today. In Hong Kong, its stock [HKG: 0939] rose 0.5 percent to HKD4.11 (52 US cents).

CCB’s onshore corporate loans and advancements increased 17.8 percent to CNY12.98 trillion (USD1.78 trillion) as of June 30 from a year ago, accounting for 56.1 percent of the total. It stood at 52 percent at the end of last year.

The balance of loans to the infrastructure industry jumped 14.1 percent to CNY6.51 trillion (USD895.2 billion), accounting for 50.1 percent of all CCB’s corporate lending at the end of the first half.

The share of loans issued to the leasing and business service, wholesale and retail, construction, and mining industries to the total rose from a year earlier, while that of loans to the real estate industry fell. The balance of loans to the property sector rose 8.1 percent to CNY833.4 billion as of June 30 from Dec. 31.

CCB’s onshore individual loans and advancements rose 2.4 percent to CNY8.43 trillion in the first half from a year ago, making up 36.5 percent of the total, down 2.4 percentage points from Dec. 31.

Among individual loans and advancements, outstanding individual mortgages fell 1.1 percent to CNY6.41 trillion as of June 30 from Dec. 31, accounting for 27.7 percent of the total, down nearly 3 percentage points in the period because of higher early repayment of mortgages.

Meanwhile, individual consumption and individual business loans jumped 24.8 percent and 46.6 percent to CNY368.8 billion and CNY608.9 billion, respectively, between the end of last year and that of the first quarter of this year.

Editors: Xu Wei, Futura Costaglione