UPDATE 1-China's Minsheng sees 2009 net rising 39.5 pct
(Adds earnings forecast, changes source to company)
SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Minsheng Bank (600016.SS), China's first listed non-state lender to plan a Hong Kong share offer, will earn a net profit of at least 11 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in 2009, the company said on Wednesday.
The forecast profit would mark a rise of 39.5 percent from the lender's previously reported net earnings of 7.885 billion yuan in 2008.
Minsheng made the forecast because the Hong Kong exchange typically requires companies that plan to issue shares there to forecast upcoming earnings, it said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
In a separate earnings report, Minsheng Bank said its unaudited net profit for the third quarter rose 8.9 percent to 2.83 billion yuan from a year earlier, citing factors including increasing net interest income.
Net profit in the first nine months of the year rose 18.1 percent to 10.2 billion yuan, it said, adding that its non-performing loan ratio dropped to 0.82 percent at the end of September from 0.86 percent at the end of June. ($1=6.83 yuan) (Reporting by Lu Jianxin and Kirby Chien; Editing by Ken Wills)
