BEIJING -- China Merchants Bank Co Ltd, the country's sixth-largest lender by assets, said Friday that its net profit during the first quarter of this year surged 32.16 percent year on year to reach 11.64 billion yuan ($1.86 billion).

The bank's business revenue in the first three months totalled 28.39 billion yuan, among which net interest income, or revenue from borrowers minus interest paid to depositors, increased 24.15 percent to 21.55 billion yuan, according to the bank's quarterly report filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

By the end of March, the capital adequacy ratio of the bank stood at 11.54 percent, while its non-performing loans increased by 287 million yuan to 9.46 billion yuan, with the non-performing loan ratio at 0.56 percent.