THE Bank of China and the Bank of Communications reported slower growth in net profit in the first quarter of this year as the Chinese economic expansion slowed.

In its quarterly report published yesterday, BOC, the nation's third-biggest lender, reported a 8.2 percent rise in net income in the first three months to 39.8 billion yuan (US$6.4 billion), compared with 9.9 percent a year earlier.

The net profit at BoCom, China's fifth-biggest bank, grew 11.5 percent to 17.7 billion yuan in the first quarter, compared with 19.6 percent in the same period of last year, the Shanghai-based lender said in its quarterly report.

BoCom said its outstanding loans to local government financing platform accounted for 7.97 percent of all lending at the end of March, 0.52 percentage point lower than the end of last year. Meanwhile, its outstanding loans to the property sector dipped 0.2 percentage point to 5.9 percent of the total.

Minsheng Securities said in its latest outlook that BOC and BoCom will see net profit growth of 3.8 percent and 7.9 percent respectively for the whole year.

The average profit growth at the 11 listed lenders in China may reach 9 percent in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier, the brokerage said.

Chinese lenders grew at a slower pace as China's economic slowdown pared demand for financial services, and reforms weakened their power in the market.