BEIJING - The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), the nation's fourth-largest lender by asset value, said Friday its net profit grew 8.26 percent year on year in the first quarter due to increased interest and non-interest income.

Net profit reached 47.05 billion yuan (7.56 billion US dollars) in the first quarter, bringing the basic earnings per share to 0.14 yuan, the bank said in a statement.

Net interest income expanded 4.02 percent year on year to 89.29 billion yuan, while net income from commissions and service fees surged 22.2 percent to 25.99 billion yuan.

Non-performing loan ratio declined 0.06 percentage point from the end of 2012 to 1.27 percent at the end of March.

Consolidated capital adequacy ratio (CAR), which reflects a bank's capacity to cushion potential losses with its capital, stood at 11.98 percent as of the end of March, according to the statement. China's largest banks must keep their CAR no less than 9.5 percent by the end of 2013, the country's bank regulator said last year.