Bank of China said Wednesday its net profits totaled 96.30 billion yuan (15.17 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters of this year, showing a 21.52 percent year-on-year rise.

Its third quarter net profits climbed 8.98 percent from one year earlier to 31.15 billion yuan, the bank said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

At the end of September, its earnings per share hit 0.35 yuan, up 0.05 yuan compared with the same period last year, it said.

The bank's total assets reached 11.53 trillion yuan at the end of September, up 10.23 percent from the start of the year. Meanwhile, its liabilities increased 10.43 percent to 10.80 trillion yuan.

As of the end of September, the bank held 97.08 billion yuan in bonds issued by the governments and institutions of European countries, mainly from countries such as Britain, Germany and France, it said.

The bank's non-performing loans (NPL) totaled 61.88 billion yuan at the end of September, and its NPL ratio was 0.99 percent, 0.11 percentage point lower than that at the end of last year.