ICBC (NZ)'s loan book soars as Chinese-owned bank taps trade ties, mortgage demand

ICBC (NZ)'s loan book soars as Chinese-owned bank taps trade ties, mortgage demand
Jonathan Underhill
By Jonathan Underhill April 27 (BusinessDesk) - ICBC (NZ), the local unit of the Chinese bank that is the world's biggest lender by assets, has lifted its loan book by 343 percent, by tapping into the growing economic relationship between China and New Zealand to write more mortgages, commercial and syndicated loans. In its second full year of operations, ICBC (NZ) lifted loans and advances to customers to $379.9 million in 2015 from $85.7 million in calendar 2014. Net interest income rose 105 percent to $6.1 million, although a charge ag...