Reuters
China's Bank of Communications Co Ltd (BoCom), reported a 1.44% rise in first-quarter net profit amid a slowing economy. BoCom, the first among five of the nation's biggest state banks reporting first-quarter results, booked a net profit of 24.99 billion yuan ($3.45 billion) in the three months ended March, up from 24.63 billion yuan in the same period last year, the bank said in a filing on Friday. China's lenders face shrinking profitability as they are urged to reduce interest rates on loans to help bolster flagging sectors as lending demand falls.