A pedestrian walks past a branch of Bank of Communications in Yichang city, Central China's Hubei province, July 24, 2014. [Photo/IC]

BEIJING - Bank of Communications, a major Chinese commercial bank, said on Thursday that its net profit increased 5.59 percent year on year to 36.77 billion yuan ($5.97 billion) in the first half of 2014.

Three quarters of its revenue during the period was interest income, topping 67.21 billion yuan, according to a report filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Net revenue from handling fees and commission charges rose 13 percent from the same period last year to 15.7 billion yuan.

At the end of the first half, the bank's total assets amounted to 6.28 trillion yuan, up 5.42 percent from the beginning of 2014.

Its non-performing loan ratio stood at 1.13 percent at the end of June, up 0.08 percentage points from six months earlier.

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