Agricultural Bank of China profits up 29% in 2011

The Agricultural Bank of China, one of China's four major state-owned commercial banks, announced Thursday that its net profits jumped 28.5 percent year-on-year to 121.96 billion yuan (19.4 billion U.S. dollars) in 2011.

The bank attributed the profit surge to stable operation, sustainable development, a careful attitude toward possible risks and the consolidation of its competitive edge.

The banks's total assets hit 11.68 trillion yuan as of the end of last year, up 13 percent year-on-year; meanwhile, total deposits rose 8.3 percent 9.62 trillion yuan, total outstanding loans climbed 13.6 percent to 5.63 trillion yuan.

As of the end of 2011, the bank's non-performing loans (NPL) decreased by 13.05 billion yuan from a year ago; its NPL ratio dropped by 0.48 percentage points.

The bank said its total outstanding loans for small- and micro-sized firms reached 575.2 billion yuan as of the end of 2011, up 24.8 percent from a year ago.