SHANGHAI/BEIJING Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC), the world's largest lender by assets, reported on Friday a 0.8% drop in the second-quarter net profit, along with slimmer margins.

Net profit was 82.81 billion yuan (US$11.68 billion or RM50.4 billion) in April-June, compared to 83.58 billion yuan in the same period last year, the bank said in a filing.

The results track those reported by the Bank of China's and the Bank of Communciations', both of which posted slower profit growth in the second quarter.

Chinese banks have been facing a squeeze on their profitability as they have been nudged to lower lending rates in order to stimulate weak loan demand amid a slowing economy.

AgBank however, has bucked the trend with a 14.2% increase in second-quarter net profit.

ICBC's net interest margin - a key gauge of profitability - was 1.43% at the end of June, compared with 1.48% at the end of March.

While the lender posted slimmer margins, the other three banks reported marginal increases or stable ones.

ICBC's non-performing loan ratio was 1.35% at the end of June, compared with 1.36% at end of March.

  - Reuters