Agricultural Bank of China Posts Slower Profit Growth
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Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., the first of the nation’s largest lenders to report 2013 earnings, posted a slowdown in profit growth as government lending curbs offset improving margins and asset quality.
Net income climbed 13 percent to 28.3 billion yuan ($4.6 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31 from 25 billion yuan a year earlier, according to Bloomberg calculations based on full-year profit reported yesterday to Hong Kong’s stock exchange. That compared with the 27.9 billion-yuan average estimate of 26 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.