China Construction Bank has 32 bln yuan Q1 profit

By Kennix Chim

HONG KONG, April 26 (Reuters) - China Construction Bank (0939.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the country's second-biggest lender by assets, posted a net profit of 32.1 billion yuan ($4.6 billion) in the first quarter of 2008, based on international accounting standards.

The state-controlled bank did not publish figures for the three months to end-March last year and gave no comparisons in the statement it issued late on Friday to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

It made a profit of 12 billion yuan in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to Reuters calculations.

Macquarie had estimated the bank could post 31.5 billion yuan in net profit in the first quarter.

Construction Bank (601939.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is about 8 percent owned by Bank of America (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and has also been listed in Shanghai since September 2007.

It said it held U.S. subprime mortgage-backed securities with a carry value of $343 million at the end of March.

Previously the lender has said it held such securities with a nominal value of $1 billion at the end of 2007, and that it had booked a $630 million impairment loss for the year on the holdings.

The lender's net interest income, mainly driven by lending, reached 54.4 billion yuan in the first quarter, while fee and commission income was 10.7 billion yuan.