Bank of China says to pursue M&A abroad in 2008

BEIJING (Reuters) - Bank of China (3988.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) (601988.SS: Quote, Profile, Research), the country's premier foreign exchange lender, expects growth of new loans in 2008 to roughly match last year's 13 percent, and said it intended to actively pursue overseas acquisitions this year.

The bank on Tuesday posted slim fourth-quarter net profit growth of 3.9 percent after booking $1.3 billion of 2007 provisions to cover potential losses on its U.S. subprime-related securities.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Edmund Klamann)