Bank of China Profit Growth Slows to 5.3% as Economy Wanes

Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s third-largest lender by assets, posted the slowest quarterly profit growth in three years as loan demand weakened and lower interest rates squeezed margins.

Net income climbed 5.3 percent to 34.8 billion yuan ($5.5 billion) in the three months ended June 30, from 33.1 billion yuan a year earlier, based on figures published by the Beijing-based lender yesterday. That was in line with the 34.3 billion-yuan average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The stock fell 1.3 percent to HK$2.95 as of 9:32 a.m. in Hong Kong.