BEIJING -- The Bank of Communications (BOCOM), China's fifth largest bank by assets, said Thursday that its net profit rose 30 percent in the first nine months of this year to 38.42 billion yuan ($6.05 billion).

In the third quarter, its net profit stood at 12.02 billion yuan, up 30.94 percent from the same period last year, BOCOM said in a statement filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Earnings per share stood at 0.19 yuan in the third quarter this year, up 26.67 percent from a year ago, it said.

By the end of September, the bank's total assets reached 4.36 trillion yuan, up 10.39 percent from the start of the year. Meanwhile, its capital adequacy ratio and core capital adequacy ratio stood at 11.89 percent and 9.24 percent, respectively.

The bank attributed its rising profit to more interest income and commission fees. In the first nine months, the bank's net interest revenue climbed 23.39 percent year-on-year to 75.89 billion yuan, while commission fees jumped 41.06 percent to 15.04 billion yuan.

The bank's non-performing loans (NPL) ratio was 0.94 percent at the end of September, 0.18 percentage point lower than that at the end of last year, said the bank.