Annual Report 2012

5 MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS5.1 FINANCIAL REVIEWIn 2012, the global economy continued to grow slowly, but the instability and uncertainty of the recovery remained conspicuous. The U.S.economy and emerging economies showed positive signs, but the Euro zone and Japanese economies continued to experience recession.Developed economies continued to loosen or maintain loose monetary policies, while emerging economies’ monetary policies faced a dilemma.According to the International Monetary Fund’s report, the global economy grew at 3.2% in 2012, a decrease of 0.7 percentage points from2011.In 2012, China’s economy faced complex internal and external environment, but the fundamentals that supported the steady and relatively fastgrowth of China’s economy have not changed in essence. In particular, the full progress of new urbanisation, informatisation, industrialisation andagricultural modernisation drove China’s economy to grow amid steady development. In 2012, China’s GDP was RMB51.9 trillion, up 7.8% over2011, while the consumer price index increased by 2.6% over the previous year.In 2012, China’s financial market operated steadily on the whole. The positive effects of monetary policies gradually appeared, and thepre-setting and fine tuning were intensified. During the year, the PBC lowered the statutory deposit reserve ratio twice, and the benchmarkdeposit and lending interest rates twice. The reform of interest rate liberalisation made further progress. For financial institutions, the upper limitof the floating range of RMB deposit interest rates was adjusted to 1.1 times of the benchmark deposit interest rates, and the lower limit of thefloating range of RMB lending interest rates was adjusted to 0.7 times of the benchmark lending interest rates. The monetary credit growth wasin line with expectations, and the loan structure continued to improve. At the end of 2012, the outstanding broad money supply M2 increased by13.8% over the previous year to RMB97.4 trillion, and the narrow money supply M1 increased by 6.5% to RMB30.9 trillion. The amount of loansgranted in RMB increased by 15.0% to RMB63.0 trillion. The deposits in RMB increased by 13.3% to RMB91.7 trillion.The Group closely monitored the trend of national economy and changes in regulatory requirements, accelerated business structure adjustments,and strengthened comprehensive risk controls, achieving steady profit growth and stable asset quality.5.1.1 Statement of Comprehensive Income AnalysisIn 2012, the Group recorded profit before tax of RMB251,439 million, up 14.76% over 2011. Net profit was RMB193,602 million, up 14.26%over 2011. This was mainly due to the following factors: First, the interest-earning assets increased moderately and net interest margin recoveredsteadily, pushing up net interest income by RMB48,630 million, or 15.97% over 2011. Second, the Group further improved cost managementand strictly controlled its expenses, keeping a relatively low cost-to-income ratio. However, as a result of the slowdown of domestic economy andchanges in regulatory policy on bank fees, the growth rate of net fee and commission income slowed down compared with 2011.(In millions of RMB, except percentages)Year ended31 December 2012Year ended31 December 2011 Change (%)Net interest income 353,202 304,572 15.97Net fee and commission income 93,507 86,994 7.49Other operating income 15,824 7,837 101.91Operating income 462,533 399,403 15.81Operating expenses (171,081) (144,537) 18.36Impairment losses (40,041) (35,783) 11.90Share of profits less losses of associates and jointly controlled entities 28 24 16.67Profit before tax 251,439 219,107 14.76Income tax expense (57,837) (49,668) 16.45Net profit 193,602 169,439 14.26Other comprehensive income for the year, net of tax (3,511) (1,918) 83.06Total comprehensive income for the year 190,091 167,521 13.4714 China Construction Bank Corporation annual report 2012