BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) on Tuesday said its 2007 net profit rose 64.9 percent year-on-year under international accounting standards on greater interest and fee incomes.

Net profit rose to 82.3 billion yuan (11.7 billion U.S. dollars), or 0.24 yuan per share, China's biggest lender said. Its board of directors suggested offering 0.133 yuan of cash dividend for per share. Under China's accounting standards, net profit surged 65.9 percent to 82 billion yuan, the lender said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The bank said it had recorded an impairment allowance of 400 million U.S. dollars for its 1.23 billion U.S. dollars investment in the U.S. subprime mortgage-backed securities by the end of last year. The ICBC posted a higher profit growth than smaller rival, the Bank of China. The latter said Tuesday its 2007 net profit climbed31.3 percent after booking 1.3 billion U.S. dollars as an impairment allowance for its 4.99 billion U.S. dollars exposure to the U.S. subprime securities. Revenue of the ICBC reached 254 billion yuan, 40.6 percent higher than in 2006, according to the statement. Total assets were up 15.6 percent 8.68 trillion yuan by the end of 2007. Outstanding loans expanded 12.2 percent to 4.07 trillion yuan and outstanding deposits rose 13.9 percent to 7.63 trillion yuan, said the statement. Net interest income rose 37.3 percent to 224.5 billion yuan, accounting for 88.3 percent of total revenue. The rapid growth came on increasing loans demand by small and medium-sized businesses and individuals and wider interest rate margins. The net rate margin increased by 35 basis points to 2.67 percen