BEIJING - The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China's largest lender by market value, said Friday its net profit rose 4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

Net profit reached 79.1 billion yuan (about $12.5 billion) in the first three months, based on international financial reporting standards, according to a company statement.

Operating income grew 8.92 percent to 183.2 billion yuan, with net interest income up 12.33 percent to reach 137 billion yuan.

Non-interest income stood at 46.2 billion yuan, down 0.09 percent, of which net income from fees and commissions rose 1.6 percent to 41.6 billion yuan.

The bank's non-performing loan ratio came in at 1.54 percent at the end of March, down from 1.55 percent at the end of 2017.

Total assets expanded 1.56 percent to reach 26.5 trillion yuan. Total liabilities climbed 1.52 percent to 24.3 trillion yuan.

ICBC's share price rose 0.84 percent in Shanghai and 0.44 percent in Hong Kong.