Bank of China, the nation's third largest commercial lender, said Thursday its first-half profits rose 25.77 percent year on year, boosted by surges in loans and financial service fees.

Net profits hit 54.38 billion yuan (7.9 billion U.S. dollars). Operating income totaled 70 billion yuan, an increase of 27 percent, the Beijing-based bank said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Earnings per share were 0.2 yuan, up 25 percent year on year.

The non-performing loan ratio stood at 1.2 percent by the end of June, down 0.32 percentage points year on year. The capital adequacy ratio was 11.73 percent, up 0.59 percentage points.

New yuan loans were up 10.89 percent to 384 billion yuan in the first six months. Credit to the transport and hydropower construction sectors increased sharply, while credit for manufacturing and industries with excess capacity fell.