Bank of China 1Q profit up 28 pct on rising rates

SHANGHAI (AP) - Bank of China Ltd., one of the country's four major state-owned commercial lenders, said Thursday its first-quarter profit jumped 28 percent on growth in higher interest and fee income.

Profit for the three months ending March 31 was 35 billion yuan ($5.4 billion), or 0.12 yuan per share, up from 27 billion yuan a year ago.

Chinese banks have profited from lending to massive economic stimulus projects and from rising interest rates aimed at cooling inflation.

The Beijing-based bank's first-quarter interest income rose 20 percent to 53.5 billion yuan ($8.2 billion) while non-interest income including fees and commissions jumped 30 percent to 30 billion yuan ($4.6 billion).

Assets rose 7.5 percent to 11.25 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion), from 10.5 trillion yuan as of the end of 2010.