BEIJING -- The Bank of China announced on Thursday that it posted a 28.52 percent increase year on year in after-tax profits to 109.69 billion yuan ($16.71 billion) in 2010.

Its net profit totaled 104.4 billion yuan last year, an increase of 29.2 percent from one year earlier, the bank said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The profit growth was mainly due to the increased net interest income.

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The lender said that its net interest income rose 22.08 percent year on year to 193.96 billion yuan last year. Also, income from commission charges climbed 21.47 percent to 44.03 billion yuan, it said.

Additionally, the bank's mainland institutions extended 617.17 billion yuan of new yuan-denominated loans last year, up 17.58 percent year on year.

It expected double-digit, though slower, loan growth this year in line with the government's stance on prudent monetary policy.

The statement said that earnings per share stood at 0.39 yuan in 2010, a rise of 0.08 yuan from 2009. The share price of the bank rose 0.30 percent at close on Thursday to 3.29 yuan.