Agricultural Bank Profit Unexpectedly Falls as Economy Cools
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Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., the first of the nation’s biggest lenders to report fourth-quarter earnings, posted an unexpected decline in profit as net fee income fell and bad-loan provisions swelled.
Profit was 27 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31, down from 28.3 billion yuan a year earlier, a Hong Kong exchange filing showed Tuesday. That trailed the 31.9 billion yuan average of 28 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.