CCB profits rise, slowest pace in six years

It's earnings week -- big time! Almost 600 companies report results this week, including eight Chinese banks.

China Construction Bank, the world's second-most valuable lender, posts better- than-expected growth in fourth-quarter profit. Higher lending income outweighed an increase in bad loan charges.

The bank's net profit rose 14% to 193 billion yuan, the slowest in six years. On the balance sheet side, the lender's capital adequacy ratio stood at 14.32 percent as the end of last year, compared with 13.87 percent at the end of September.

Chinese banks' earnings are expected to slow further, as lending margins shrink due to faster interest-rate deregulation.