Shanghai / AFP China Construction Bank (CCB), the country’s second-largest lender, reported flat growth in net profit in 2015, as bad loans jumped with economic growth slowing. The bank’s net profit edged up 0.14 percent year-on-year to 228.15 billion yuan ($35 billion) in last year, slowing from a 6.1 percent annual increase in 2014, according to a statement that was ...

WARSAW / Reuters Poland’s Alior Bank has agreed to buy Bank BPH from General Electric for 1.225 billion zloty ($329 million) and said it will look to make another acquisition this year after moving into the country’s top 10. Shares in the lender, which has a market capitalisation of 4.67 billion zlotys, jumped by up to 5.7 percent, with investors ...

Bloomberg Banco Santander SA intends to close about 450 branches in Spain this year, more than one in 10, as the lender steers customers into digital banking to cut costs and bolster profitability. “Spain’s financial sector is facing a period of major change,” Country Head Rami Aboukhair told employees in an internal memo announcing the closures. “The current economic context, ...