File photo of the Bank of Communications. (Photo: VCG)

BEIJING, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) - The Bank of Communications, one of China's largest commercial banks, reported Saturday that its net profit rose 5.3 percent in the first nine months of 2018.

Its net profit reached 57.3 billion yuan (8.24 billion US dollars) during the January-September period, the bank said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The bank posted a net profit of 16.53 billion yuan for the third quarter, up from 15.44 billion yuan one year earlier.

Business revenue climbed 5.37 percent from a year earlier to 157.83 billion yuan for the January-September period.

By the end of September, the bank's total assets amounted to 9.39 trillion yuan, up 3.91 percent from the end of last year.

Its share price fell 0.67 percent to 5.91 yuan Friday.