Citi's China partner posts 23 percent net profit climb

Pudong Bank, part-owned by US financial giant Citigroup Inc, posted on Saturday a net profit rise of 23 percent in 2004 despite slowing loans growth due to nation-wide credit curbs. Pudong Development Bank, the country's third most valuable lender, earned 1.93 billion yuan ($233.2 million) in 2004, it said in preliminary, unaudited results published in the Shanghai Securities News.
That outpaced the bank's own predictions of 15 percent growth and fell within the low end of analysts' forecasts of 20 to 35 percent, aided by a branch network that is the largest among listed lenders in China's richest city, Shanghai.
The effects of curbs on investment and lending in overheating sectors from steel to cars - aimed at bringing the world's seventh-largest economy onto a more stable growth track - could be felt in 2005 because of the lag effect of term loans, analysts have said.
Pudong Bank did not offer a quarterly breakdown on Saturday.