BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- China Minsheng Banking Corp., the nation's first listed non-State lender, announced Tuesday that it posted a net profit of 10.2 billion yuan (1.49 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters, up 18.11 percent year on year.

    The net profit in the third quarter alone stood at 2.83 billion yuan, up 8.9 percent from a year earlier, the lender said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the first third-quarter report from banks listed in China's A-share market.

    The lender attributed the net profit rise to the increasing income from net interest margin.

    The non-performing loan rate of the bank dropped to 0.82 percent at the end of September from 0.86 percent at the end of June, according to the Beijing-based lender.

    Equities of the Shanghai-listed bank added 2.42 percent to 7.63yuan per share on Tuesday.