A branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - State-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest bank, reported a 0.65 percent year-on-year increase in net profits in the first three quarters of 2015.

The figure narrowed from a 0.7 percent year-on-year increase in the first half of 2015.

Net profits stood at around 222.3 billion yuan ($34.96 billion) in the first nine months, the lender said in a statement.

Its non-performing loan ratio edged up to 1.44 percent at the end of September, compared with 1.4 percent at the end of June this year.

Net profits from interest for the nine-month period gained 4.69 percent year on year, while net profits from fees and commissions rose 10.21 percent year on year.

The latest report followed a filing by Bank of Communications that also showed slowing profit growth amid a wider sluggish economy.

China's economy expanded 6.9 percent in the third quarter of 2015, the first time the quarterly growth rate has dropped below 7 percent since the second quarter of 2009, the height of the global recession.