St.George Bank Profit Rises 9% on Business Lending (Update5)

St.George Bank Profit Rises 9% on Business Lending (Update5)
May 2 (Bloomberg) -- St.George Bank Ltd., Australia's fifth- largest lender, said first-half profit rose 9 percent to a record after it increased loans to companies and domestic stock market gains helped boost fund-management earnings.

PHILIPPINES BUSINESS BRIEFS: PSBank NPL Ratio 4.75%
MANILA (Dow Jones)--Philippine Savings Bank (PSB.PH), or PSBank, reported that its non-performing loans totaled PHP1.86 billion, or 4.75% of its loan portfolio, as of March 31.

Student loans hurting graduates
Two-thirds of college students have education loans. More college graduates are finding they have to put-off getting married or buying a house because of costly student loans.

China bad loans may reach total of $900bn
Chinas total liabilities for non-performing loans may be as high as $900bn, dwarfing official estimates and outstripping the countrys massive foreign exchange reserves, according to a study of Beijings bad debt problem.