China Merchants 2009 net down 14% to $2.67bln

Lender still was able to beat average $2.57bln forecast by Dow Jones.

China Merchants Bank Co. said Tuesday that its net profit last year fell 14% because of lower net interest income despite a surge in lending.

China's sixth-largest lender by assets said in a statement its net profit for the 12 months ended Dec. 31 was CNY18.24 billion ($2.67 billion), down from CNY21.08 billion ($3.08 billion) the previous year. Still, the company beat the average CNY17.57 billion ($2.57 billion) forecast of six analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

The bank said its net interest income, which accounted for more than 80% of its operating income, dropped to CNY40.36 billion ($5.91 billion) from CNY46.89 billion ($6.87 billion) due to a narrower net interest margin.

The bank said in a separate statement that its unaudited net profit for the January-March period rose 40% to CNY5.9 billion ($864.23 million).

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