China Construction Bank profit up slightly ahead of virus hit

China Construction Bank joined state-run peers including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. in weathering a trade war and a steep economic slowdown to post record profits in 2019.

CHINA Construction Bank Corp., the nation’s second-largest lender, reported a 5% increase in profit last year, improving its buffer against a potential surge in credit losses as the coronavirus outbreak halted the world’s second-largest economy at the start of 2020.

Net income rose to 266.7 billion yuan ($38 billion) in 2019 from 254.7 billion yuan a year earlier, the Beijing-based lender said in an exchange filing on Sunday. That compared with the average estimate of 263.8 billion yuan in a Bloomberg survey.