Business Channel 2007-08-27&08-29, 快速成长---中国的银行

Scripts:
Investors in Shanghai and Hongkong are focusing on the shares of two of China's biggest banks: the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China--ICBC and the Bank of China, both posted surging profits on Thursday for the first half of the year. Our Asia Business editor Eunice Yoon is on board. She has more. Eunice, great profits from these two companies, what's powering them?

Well, it's mainly Chinese economic boom, and more specifically the higher interest income that they've been earning, er... mainly from the corporate¹ customers that they have, also the fact that both of these banks are expanding into new businesses. Er...they are really trying to diversify² er... their businesses and they are moving more into credit cards, mortgage lending also wealth management and that's really helping³ both of these banks in terms of their earnings⁴ for the first half of the year. ICBC said that their numbers came in 62% higher at 5.4 billion dollars. And bank of China also said that theirs were up by 52%.

And as ICBC and Bank of China diversify, do they run the risk of exposing themselves to the sub-prime crisis that's been hitting the US?

Well, what's intersting is that yesterday both of the banks er... really were able to confirm what analysts⁵ had been suspecting all along that their exposure to the problems in the United States really are very very limited. In fact, ICBC said that their exposure to the sub-prime debacle is 1.23 billion dollars. But you set that, er set that against their 1.1 trillion dollars in total assets, very small number. Also Bank of China said that their exposure is 9.7 billion dollars and even though a lot of analysts are saying that this is the largest exposure er... in terms of...for a lot of these Chinese banks, it's still only 1% of the 770 billion dollars that they have in total assets. So, er... people are saying:they have a very large capital base, they also have very strong operating earnings and so because of that this is a manageable problem for them.

So, should the outlook for their share prices be pretty positive?

Well, that's what, er,I mean, that's what a lot of analysts are saying that in the long run because people tend to bet on banks in order to use them er...really to ride on the coattails of the ecomomic boom and act as a proxy⁶ to the ecomomic growth in the country. Er...they are a good bet at least that's what a lot of prople tend to believe also because the banks themselves have been able to clean up their books, and in the past several years, the bad loan problem has started to subside⁷, a lot of that is because the government has been injecting so much money into these banks, so the banks have also listed, so that's been a problem that has been subsiding⁸. Er...but the one thing that some analysts are concerned about is the valuations. And if there,these share prices would get a little bit too expensive 'cause they are worried that the loan growth as well as the margins⁹ might not be sustainable.

Alright, thanks for the...


Notes:
ride on one's coattail: to use your connection with someone successful to achieve success yourself

1 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

2 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

5 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

6 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

7 subside   

vi.平静，平息；下沉，塌陷，沉降

参考例句：

• The emotional reaction which results from a serious accident takes time to subside.严重事故所引起的情绪化的反应需要时间来平息。
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon.围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。

8 subsiding   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的现在分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• The flooded river was subsiding rapidly. 泛滥的河水正在迅速退落。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gradually the tension was subsiding, gradually the governor was relenting. 风潮渐渐地平息了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

9 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。