The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest bank by market value, remained the world's most profitable bank by posting 129.4 billion yuan (18.95 billion U.S. dollars) of after-tax profits last year, the bank said here Thursday.

The bank saw a 16.3 percent increase in net profit last year from the 2008 level, according to its annual business report released Thursday.

Earnings per share rose 18.2 percent to 0.39 yuan from a year earlier, said the bank.

The bank's new lending last year in the Chinese mainland jumped 24.2 percent to 1.035 trillion yuan, while non-performing loan ratio fell to 1.54 percent, down by 0.75 percentage point compared to a year ago, it said.

The bank also raised its provision coverage ratio to 164.41 percent from 130.15 percent by the end of 2008 to tighten risk control. The regulatory requirement for large banks is 150 percent.

The bank's core capital adequacy ratio stood at 9.9 percent last year, said the report.

The bank said its total assets reached 11. 78 trillion yuan last year, up 20.8 percent from 2008, while its overseas assets totaled 49.18 billion U.S. dollars by the end of last year, growing 22.89 percent compared to the beginning of the year.

Shares of the ICBC dropped 0.2 percent to 4.87 yuan on Thursday.