China Construction Bank net profit USD31,2 print M

Dani Mohammad Dahwilani

Sindonews.com -China Construction Bank, the fourth-largest bank reported a net profit increase of 14.1 percent year-on-year in 2012, lifted net interest income growth.

Reported by Global Post, Monday (25/3/2013), the bank said, the company's net profit totaled 193,2 billion yuan (USD31,2 billion), up from 169,3 billion yuan in 2011. Net-interest income calculated from interest earned minus interest payments the customer-16.0 percent jump to 353,2 billion yuan, accounted for more than two-thirds of the bank's operating income last year.

However, the bank warned of a gradual liberalization of interest rates in China will hurt corporate profits in the future.

The Central Bank last year extending its range, that bank deposit and credit interest rates can soar to the benchmark level, an action that could result in the bank's net interest margin narrowed.

The bank stated, will be active doing research on interest rate liberalization by growing and improve the ability in responding to the price reform.

The Non-performing loan ratio dropped to 0.99 per cent last year, from 1,09 percent in 2011. While the Capital adequacy ratio, a measure of capital to assets, rose to 14,32 percent last year, from 13,68 percent in 2011, helped by the issuance of bonds of 40 billion yuan.

Shares of China Construction Bank climbed 2.43 percent to HKD 6.32 (USD0,81) in midday trading on the Hong Kong and Shanghai rose 1.49 percent to 4.78 yuan.

(dmd)

Finance; Investment; Business; Economics

Finance; Investment; Business; Economics

Inflation slows in China to start new year

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

Inflation moderated in China last month.

Chinese consumers paid 2.0% more for goods and services in January than they did a year ago, the government's National Bureau of Statistics reported Friday.

That's a slower rate than December's 2.5% annual increase, and represents tame inflation for the world's second largest economy. A year ago, the country was experiencing an annual inflation rate of 4% or higher.

Food prices also registered a slower rate of growth than in December, when unseasonably cold weather pushed prices on meat and vegetables up dramatically.

Food is an important gauge of cost of living expenses in China. It accounts for more than a third of the country's inflation calculation, and for rural families, it makes up the bulk of expenses.

The Chinese government prefers to keep its annual inflation rate below 4% -- a level it sees as consistent with healthy economic growth and consumer demand.

China's inflation data in January and February can be distorted by the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday, scheduled this year for Feb. 10.

Related: Photos from China's great migration

China has averaged economic growth of around 10% a year in the past three decades, propelling it up the list of biggest economies, generating wealth for its growing middle class and boosting global trade.

But that pace of expansion is hard to maintain, and China may be reaching a new normal of growth. China's economy grew 7.9% in the fourth quarter, compared to a year earlier.

Recently, China has felt the impact of sluggish growth in the United States and recession in much of Europe, which has depressed export demand. Government efforts to take the heat out of a real estate boom and control inflation have also had a dampening effect.

First Published: February 8, 2013: 1:14 AM ET

Finance; Investment; Business; Economics

Finance; Investment; Business; Economics

HP to limit student labor in China

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

HP will conduct more frequent checks on labor conditions at its suppliers

The new standards are among the most stringent in the industry. Suppliers will be expected to comply immediately, and will be subjected to more frequent audits, the PC and printer maker said Friday.

HP (HPQ, Fortune 500), which sources many of its products from suppliers in China, said it was responding to a "significant increase in the use of student and dispatch workers" in the country.

It is common practice in many parts of China for underage workers, often recruited by agencies, to work in factories under the guise of internships or temporary assignments.

Related: Scenes from China's annual migration

Documents are frequently forged, and underage workers are not permitted to leave factories of their own accord. In many cases, students are put to work to accommodate short-term production increases.

HP's new rules stipulate that all labor must be voluntary. Students employed by suppliers must be able to leave at any time, and will only be able to work for a limited term in a discipline associated with their primary area of study. The number of student workers will be limited, and all government regulations regarding legal working ages must be followed.

"We have worked closely with leading Chinese stakeholders to develop our new student and temporary worker guidelines to ensure the highest standards of ethical workforce management," said Tony Prophet, an HP executive and supply chain manager.

HP's announcement comes after Apple last year entered a partnership with the Fair Labor Association, an independent labor-rights organization that has conducted inspections of working conditions at factories in China.

Both HP and Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), along with Intel (INTC, Fortune 500), Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) and Cisco (CSCO, Fortune 500), have contracts with Foxconn, a Taiwan-based supplier that has come under fire for harsh labor conditions at its Chinese plants.

Related: China will be Apple's top market

The FLA has criticized Foxconn for several labor-rights violations, including requiring its employees to work excessive overtime and paying salaries that were too low to cover basic living expenses.

Workers went on strike in October in protest over conditions on the iPhone 5's production lines, a month after 40 people were injured in a protest that forced the temporary closure of another plant.

But in a notable shift, Foxconn said earlier this week it was giving employees more union rights. For the first time, employees have been promised a chance to vote for representatives free from management influence, and top officials will be elected by secret ballot.

Related: Uneven recovery for China's factories

Apple has instituted reforms of its own, and the company website highlights instances where audits have uncovered child labor at suppliers -- along with the steps taken to rectify the situation.

"When we discover suppliers with underage workers or find out about historical cases -- where workers had either left or reached legal working age by the time of the audit -- we demand immediate corrective action," Apple's website says.

First Published: February 8, 2013: 5:17 AM ET

Finance; Investment; Business; Economics

Finance; Investment; Business; Economics