HONG KONG (Standard&Poor's) Feb. 8, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its rating on Bank of East Asia Ltd. (BEA; A-/Stable/A-2) was not affected by an announced 25.1% increase in net profit in 2006 to Hong Kong dollar 3.5 billion. The rating was raised in June 2006. The strong profit in 2006 was supported by significantly higher net interest income as a result of loan growth and increased margins in China. In addition, its ratio of costs to income fell to 45.8% from 50.2% in 2005. BEA's asset quality improved, with its impaired loans ratio dropping to 0.78% in 2006 from 1.03% in 2005. As BEA's China operations should remain a growth area, risk management and
