OREANDA-NEWS. February 21, 2012. The Bank of East Asia and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “BEA Group”) have announced consolidated profit after taxation of HKD 4,451 million for the year ended 31st December, 2011, reported the press-centre of BEA Group.

This is 3.4 percent higher than the net profit of HKD 4,303 million reported for 2010. Profit attributable to owners of the parent totaled HKD 4,358 million, or 3.2 percent above the 2010 figure, a new record for the Group.

Basic earnings per share rose to HKD 1.96, an increase of HKD 0.04 over the HKD 1.92 per share reported for 2010. Return on average assets and return on average equity for 2011 were 0.74 percent and 9.47 percent, respectively.

The Board of Directors has declared a second interim dividend (in lieu of final dividend) of HKD 0.51 per share, bringing the total dividend for 2011 to HKD 0.94 per share.

In view of the financial uncertainty facing the global economy in 2011, the BEA Group focused its efforts on the Greater China region, where economic conditions were relatively favourable. This strategy proved successful, and total operating income climbed to HKD 12,715 million, a rise of 14.3 percent compared to the HKD 11,126 million recorded for 2010.

Net interest income rose to HKD 9,263 million, a growth of 22.8 percent compared to the figure reported a year ago. The BEA Group’s net interest margin narrowed slightly to 1.75 percent in 2011, down three basis points from 1.78 percent in 2010.

Net fee and commission income increased by 13.6 percent to HKD 3,342 million. The above performance was muted by volatility in global financial markets, as BEA recorded a negative swing of HKD 588 million in the profit and loss account from 2010 to 2011 on trading activities and investments.

Total operating expenses expanded by 15.8 percent to HKD 7,992 million, mainly due to higher staff costs and steady expansion of business on the Mainland. The Group’s cost-to-income ratio was 62.9 percent for 2011, a rise of 0.9 percentage points compared to the 62.0 percent reported for the previous year. While this indicates a slight deterioration in the cost-to-income ratio, it should be noted that this measure was impacted by the negative swing referred to above, and not by a decline in operating efficiency.

Operating profit before impairment losses in 2011 grew by 11.8 percent to HKD 4,723 million, HKD 501 million higher than in 2010.

The BEA Group’s overall loan quality continued to improve, benefitting in particular from an improvement in asset quality at overseas operations. The impaired loan ratio fell to 0.46 percent as of 31st December, 2011, down eight basis points compared to the end of 2010.

Operating profit after impairment losses for 2011 rose to HK\\\$4,588 million, an increase of HKD 672 million, or 17.2 percent, over the previous year.

Total profit after taxation grew to HKD 4,451 million for 2011, 3.4 percent higher than the previous year’s figure. Profit attributable to owners of the parent totaled HK\\\$4,358 million, a rise of 3.2 percent compared to 2010.

As of 31st December, 2011, the total consolidated assets of the BEA Group amounted to HK\\\$611.4 billion, an increase of 14.5 percent over the figure reported at the end of 2010.

Total loans to customers increased to HKD 321.9 billion as of the end of in 2011, a rise of 8.4 percent from the HKD 297.0 billion reported at the end of 2010. Total deposits of the BEA Group grew by 12.6 percent from HKD 425.4 billion as of 31st December, 2010 to HKD 478.8 billion as of year-end 2011. Total equity attributable to owners of the parent stood at HK\\\$47.6 billion at the end of 2011.

As of 31st December, 2011, the BEA Group’s core capital adequacy ratio stood at 9.4 percent, while its total capital adequacy ratio was 13.7 percent, compared to 9.8 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively, at the end of 2010. The average liquidity ratio was 42.8 percent for the year ended 31st December, 2011, compared to 44.9 percent the previous year. The loan-to-deposit ratio was 67.2 percent at the end of 2011.