In 2007, profit after tax reached a record Rmb82.3bn ($11.3bn), a 64.9% increase with substantial growth in interest income and non-interest income. Meanwhile, the cost-income ratio improved to a reasonable level of 34.7% and the non-performing loan ratio stayed subdued at 2.7%. This performance provides a record return on equity of 16.2%
In 2007, ICBC agreed to buy 20% of Standard Bank of South Africa, opened subsidiaries in Moscow and Indonesia and has applied to set up branches in Dubai, Doha and Sydney. ICBC has improved service efficiency, expedited product innovation with secure and robust IT systems and enabled it to be the first bank in the industry to have double back-ups of data; same-city and remote. Meanwhile, total assets in 2007 grew 15.6% to $1189.5bn with Tier 1 capital up 4.8% to $66.3bn.
ICBC has been co-operating closely with shareholders, Goldman Sachs Group, American Express and Allianz Group, achieving remarkable results in corporate governance, risk management, non-performing loans management, staff training and financial transactions, bank cards and other business areas.
“ICBC is greatly honoured to be awarded Bank of the Year in China by The Banker, says CEO Yang Kaisheng. “This award means recognition of our outstanding performance. During the past year, ICBC stuck to its policy of prudent operation, and its continuous rapid growth proves its sound development potential.”
