CITIC Bank (SZ:601998, HK:0998), the seventh largest commercial bank in China, garnered a net profit of 2.04 billion yuan (273.2 million U.S. dollars) in the third quarter of this year, according to a report released by the bank on Monday.

Net asset value per share at the end of September reached 2.08 yuan, up 103.55 percent on the end of last year. Earnings per share stood at 0.05 yuan in the third quarter, and 0.15 yuan in the first nine months.

CITIC was the country's second bank to be simultaneously listed on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges in April, on the heels of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest lender.

Recently, the ICBC reported a 66 percent year-on-year increase in its net profit of 64.1 billion yuan in the first nine months of this year. China Construction Bank, the country's second largest lender, posted a net profit of 57 billion yuan in the first three quarters of this year.

CITIC bank also made an announcement on Monday that it had entered into a Memorandum of Business Cooperation regarding future business cooperation in green economy, a clean development mechanism, China-Japan bilateral trade financing and other business areas with Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd. and Mizuho Corporate Bank (China), Ltd.

Mizuho Corporate Bank is a cornerstone investor of the bank, which currently holds 68.26 million H shares of CITIC Bank, representing approximately 0.17 percent of the total share capital.

(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2007)