BEIJING, March 26 -- Bank of China said on Wednesday that its net profits rose 12.36 percent in 2013 from a year earlier.

The profits stood at 156.91 billion yuan (25.64 billion U.S. dollars), the lender said in a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Its year-on-year growth rate in net profit in 2013 was 0.96 percentage point higher than that in 2012.

Bank of China attributed the profit increase to rising incomes, less expense on risks and improving input-output efficiency.

Its total asset value hit 13.87 trillion yuan at the end of 2013, up 9.41 percent from a year earlier.

The bank's non-performing loans ratio stood at 0.96 percent at the end of 2013, up 0.01 percentage points from a year earlier.