BEIJING - China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd announced Thursday that its net profit surged 47.7 percent to 9.17 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) in the first quarter of this year.

Business revenues jumped 45.92 percent to 25.04 billion yuan in the first three months, the lender said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Earnings per share rose 47.83 percent during the period to 0.34 yuan, the statement said.

The non-performing loan ratio was 0.67 percent, up 0.04 percentage point from the end of 2011, the bank said.

The bank's total assets hit nearly 2.42 trillion yuan by the end of the quarter, up 8.44 percent from the end of last year.

Its outstanding loans for small and micro-sized firms reached 245.04 billion yuan, with the number of borrowers in the sector reaching 525,000, the statement said.