SHENZHEN Development Bank said yesterday its first-half profit almost doubled on higher margins and a cut in tax rates.

The bank's profit rose to 2.14 billion yuan (US$312 million), or 0.93 yuan a share, from 1.12 billion, or 0.54 yuan, a year earlier, it said in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange yesterday. Despite the 91-percent half-year surge in profit, analysts said the rise in the bank's profit slowed in the second quarter.

Qiu Zhicheng, a Haitong Securities Co analyst, kept a neutral rating on the bank.

"The bank earned record profit in the first quarter while earnings in the second quarter were mainly due to declining costs and a cut in the tax rate, which means the growth in profit quality was not so solid," he said. The bank will have to set aside more provisions against bad loans, he added.

Its bad loans fell by 1.05 billion yuan in the first half of the year to 11.4 billion yuan while the non-performing loan ratio shed 1 percentage point to 4.64 percent.

Its interest margin advanced from 3.11 percent a year ago to 3.17 percent in the first half. Net interest income expanded 1.87 billion yuan to 6.3 billion yuan.