China's Minsheng Banking Co. said Friday its third-quarter profit climbed 46.48 percent year on year to 4.14 billion yuan (618.76 million U.S. dollars) on the back of higher interest income.

Earnings per share increased 0.03 yuan year on year to 0.16 yuan, according to its third-quarter report filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Interest income in the first three quarters rose 45.53 percent year on year to 33.02 billion yuan while non-interest income rose 17.5 percent to 7.02 billion.

The bank's total assets at the end of the quarter climbed 23.7 percent year on year to 1.76 trillion yuan.

Its non-performing loan ratio was 0.75 percent at the end of September, down 0.09 percentage points from the beginning of the year.

Shares of the lender lost 1.97 percent Friday to finish at 5.46 yuan.