Chinese commercial banks saw their profitability further squeezed in the first quarter of the year amid a slowing economy, while their non-performing loan ratios remained steady, the country's financial regulator said on Friday.
Net interest margin - a key gauge of profitability - further narrowed to 1.54% in the quarter from 1.69% in the previous three months, the National Financial Regulatory Administration said in a statement on its website.
Chinese banks face growing profitability pressure as they are nudged by Beijing to support the wobbly economic recovery and the struggling property sector, while loan demand remains weak.
Net profits of commercial banks grew 0.7% year-on-year to 672.3 billion yuan in the quarter, the regulator added. The non-performing loan ratio stood at 1.59% at the end of the period, remaining flat from the previous quarter, it said.
Outstanding bad loans amounted to 3.4 trillion, an increase of 141.1 billion yuan from the end of the previous quarter.
The capital adequacy ratio was 15.43%, up from 15.06%, it said.
($1 = 7.2405 Chinese yuan renminbi)
