(Yicai Global) May 13 -- Chinese commercial banks' net profits widened by 5 percent in the first quarter from a year ago while their aggregate non-performing loan ratio climbed slightly amid the Covid-19 epidemic, according to official data.

The lenders' net profits expanded to CNY600.1 billion (USD84.6 billion) and their NPL ratio was 1.91 percent, rising 5 bips from the beginning of this year, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said on its website yesterday. The banks' provision coverage ratio was 183.2 percent.

In the first quarter, the ratio of defaulted loans of micro and small enterprises, as well as restaurants and hotels, climbed rapidly but still remained within the CBIRC’s expectations, Chief Risk Officer Xiao Yuanqi said at a press conference on April 22. The second quarter will be slightly riskier, Xiao added.

China has been seeking to support small companies amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The payment periods of CNY576.8 billion worth of loans were extended in the first quarter, and nearly 90 percent of the funds involved micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises or individually owned businesses, according to the CBIRC. Meanwhile, five large banks decreased their related interest rates by 30 bips to 4.3 percent from a year earlier.

Rural banks and small urban lenders were faring the worst in the first quarter. Rural commercial banks' NPL was 4.1 percent. That of small urban commercial banks was 2.5 percent. The figure for large commercial banks was 1.4 percent and joint-stock ones 1.6 percent. Private lenders posted a 1.1 percent ratio and foreign ones 0.7 percent.

In terms of available funds, the core tier one capital adequacy ratio of all commercial banks was 10.9 percent. The tier-one capital adequacy ratio was 11.9 percent, and the capital adequacy ratio was 14.5 percent. Foreign-funded banks excelled with a capital adequacy ratio of 18.4 percent while urban commercial banks only had 12.7 percent.

Editor: Emmi Laine