The Bank of Communications, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank yesterday posted strong growth in their first-quarter profits due to a rising economy.

BoCom said yesterday its net profits jumped 31 percent to 10.45 billion yuan (US$1.53 billion) in the first three months of this year.

The Shanghai-based bank extended 100.5 billion yuan of new yuan loans in the first quarter at a stable pace, said Yu Yali, chief financial officer and vice president of the bank.

"We expect a 20 percent loan growth this year, slower than that of 2009," said Yu.

BoCom's capital adequacy ratio dipped by 0.27 percentage point to 11.73 percent in the January to March period, above the regulatory minimum of 11.5 percent for large state-owned banks.

The fifth-biggest bank in China said earlier that it plans to raise up to 42 billion yuan through a rights offering to replenish capital. It has applied to the banking and stock regulators for the plan, which has been already approved by its shareholders.

Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp will participate in the rights offering of BoCom, Yu said.

BoCom can bear a price drop of up to 30 percent in the real estate market, said Qian Wenhui, executive vice president of the bank.

Real estate loans, including development and individual mortgage loans, accounted for 18 percent of BoCom's total loans.

ICBC said its net profit rose 18 percent to 41.55 billion yuan due to increasing loans.

The world's biggest lender in terms of market value lent 334 billion yuan of new loans in the first quarter, taking its total credit outstanding to 6.1 trillion yuan. The bank's CAR fell to 11.98 percent by March 31.

China's economy expanded 11.9 percent in the first quarter.

China Merchants Bank, the country's sixth-largest lender, said yesterday its net profit jumped 40.4 percent annually to 6 billion yuan in the first quarter.

The Shenzhen-based lender's CAR rose to 11.53 percent by the end of March, up 1.08 percentage points from the end of 2009, backed by its rights offering in Shanghai's A-share market.

China Construction Bank Corp, the country's second-largest lender by assets, yesterday said its first-quarter net profit rose 34 percent from a year earlier, driven by increases in interest and fee incomes.

The bank said its net profit for the three months ended March 31 was 35.16 billion yuan, up from 26.26 billion yuan a year earlier.