The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) said on Monday its domestic pre-tax operating profits rose 39 percent year-on-year to 54.3 billion yuan (7.95 billion U.S. dollars) for the January-June period.

The Beijing-based bank ascribed the rise to intermediate service growth and an improved business structure. Income from intermediate services stood at 13.4 billion yuan from January to June, up 47 percent year on year.

It didn't release overseas profit figures.

Its non-performing-loan (NPL) ratio fell 1.61 percentage points from 23.64 percent at the end of last year, with the total amount of NPLs dropping 9.99 billion yuan during the January-June period from the end of last year.

The bank, one of the country's "big four" lenders, said this year it had given extensive support to reconstruction following the snow havoc this winter and the deadly May 12 earthquake in southwest China, as well as to the farming sector and county-level economy.

New loans to support agricultural economy and farmers reached 378.9 billion yuan, accounting for 40 percent of its combined loans in the first half.

The ABC has 31,000 banking outlets nationwide and branches in Singapore and Hong Kong.

(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2008)