The Bank of East Asia (BEA) sees a surge in interim profits as its efforts to minimise bad loans are paying off, media reports said.
Adrian Li Man-kiu, co-chief executive, told the media, “Beyond the immediate impact of Covid, political and compliance risks are on the rise given the escalating Sino-US geopolitical tensions. We shall watch the changing circumstances closely and adapt to new regulations and sanctions”.
It is reported that the bank’s profit surged by 53 percent to HK$1.53 billion in the first quarter from a year earlier. The net charge for impairment losses slumped to HK$2.9 billion in the first half compared to impairment losses of HK$5.1 billion in the prior year period. This year’s impairment losses declined because of a profit in mainland business. Furthermore, the net charges for impairment losses almost halved from a year earlier, while losses also declined in the mainland business.
Coming to the banks mainland business, it recorded a pre-tax loss of HK$602 million in the first quarter, compared with a last year’s loss of HK$3.8 billion. Last year, in Hong Kong, the bank’s pre-tax was HK$3.69 billion and this year it came down to HK$1.41 billion.
The bank recorded a dip in its net interest income by 17 percent to HK$6.11 billion in the first quarter. Furthermore, there was a surge in the Net fee and commission income by 6.7 percent to HK$1.44 billion in the same period.
The trade tussle between the US and China is the only concern for the bank right now