The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest lender, said on Tuesday its first-quarter after-tax profit surged 76.1 percent year-on-year on loan growth and income from intermediate business.

First-quarter profit was 33.28 billion yuan (about 4.75 billion U.S. dollars), or 0.1 yuan per share, under international accounting standards.

The performance reflected its rapidly expanding intermediate business and better margins on corporate loans.

Net income from fees and commissions for businesses such as credit cards and fund sales soared 86.4 percent to 12.1 billion yuan. Net interest receipts rose 36.4 percent to 66.3 billion yuan.

ICBC was outperformed by its rivals in the first quarter. The Bank of Communications said on Tuesday its quarterly profit more than doubled, while the Bank of China, the country's third biggest, said on Monday that profits grew 85 percent.

ICBC said domestic outstanding loans reached 3.9 trillion yuan at the end of March, up 3.9 percent. Deposit balances totaled 7.2 billion yuan, up 4.9 percent.

The non-performing loan rate was 2.51 percent at end-March, 0.23 point lower than the same period last year. Revenues grew 37.8 percent to 75.6 billion yuan.

ICBC shares climbed 1.42 percent to 6.45 yuan in Shanghai and 0.32 percent to 6.18 yuan in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2008)