BEIJING, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Net profit of the China Merchants Bank declined 16.3 percent year on year in the third quarter of this year because of shrinking loan margins.

    Net profit in the July-September period reached 4.82 billion yuan (705.12 million U.S. dollars), the lender said in a quarterly report to the Shanghai Stock Exchange Friday. Its net profit amounted to 13.08 billion yuan in the first nine months, compared with 19 billion yuan in the same period last year.

    Net interest income, or revenue from lending minus interest paid on deposits, declined 18.97 percent year on year to 29.01 billion yuan in the first three quarters. Net interest income accounted for 76.67 percent of the lender's business revenue, it said.

    Shares of the bank rose 4.16 percent to 17.77 yuan in the Shanghai bourse and gained 5.88 percent to 20.35 Hong Kong dollars in the Hong Kong bourse Friday before the report was released.