Bank of China Ltd (BoC), the country’s fourth-biggest lender by assets, on Friday reported a 13.2% increase in third-quarter net profit.

Net profit for the July-September period was 50.71 billion yuan ($7.93 billion), up from 44.79 billion a year earlier.

The bank said its net interest margin – a key indicator of bank profitability – slipped to 1.75% at the end of September from 1.76% at the end of June.

It reported a non-performing loan ratio of 1.29% compared to 1.3% at the end of the previous quarter.

Bank of China has estimated that China’s commercial banks are likely to have posted third-quarter profit growth of around 3%.

But the sector will be pressured by declining loan rates, loan-loss provisioning requirements and challenges faced by non-interest-earning businesses, the bank said in a quarterly banking report.