Bank of East Asia grows 13 pct, beating estimates

Bank of East Asia Ltd, Hong Kong's largest family-run lender, said first-half profit rose 13 percent as lending and fee income grew.

Net income for the period increased to HK$3.38 billion ($436 million), or HK$1.43 a share, from HK$2.99 billion, or HK$1.35, a year earlier, the bank said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday.

That exceeded the HK$2.78 billion average estimate of five analysts compiled by Bloomberg.