BEIJING - China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd, a mid-sized lender in the country, said Wednesday its net profits rose 20.09 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2013 due to strong non-interest income.

Net profits reached 11.02 billion yuan ($1.77 billion), bringing the basic earnings per share to 0.39 yuan, up 0.05 yuan from a year earlier, the bank said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Net non-interest income surged 44.78 percent year-on-year to 8.76 billion yuan, accounting for 30.35 percent of the gross business income.

Net interest income edged up 6.03 percent to 20.11 billion yuan, while gross business income climbed 15.35 percent to 28.87 billion yuan.

Non-performing loan ratio remained 0.76 percent at the end of the first quarter, the same as that recorded at the end of 2012, the bank said.

Its total assets grew 2.7 percent from three months earlier to 3.29 trillion yuan as of the end of March, while gross liabilities gained 2.3 percent to 3.11 trillion yuan, according to the statement.

The bank's share price in Shanghai soared 3.79 percent to 10.13 yuan on Wednesday.