(Yicai Global) Feb. 20 -- Postal Savings Bank of China has welcomed Guo Xinshuang as its new president after running without one for 13 months, the lender said in a recent statement.

Guo joined China Post Group as vice general manager in October and rang the bell when the lender went public on the Chinese mainland in December. Born in 1963, he has previously served as president of China Development Bank's Jilin office and vice general manager of China Everbright Group.

Shares in the firm's Hong Kong listing [HKG:1658] were down 0.4 percent at HKD5.02 (65 US cents) as of 3.46 p.m.

Lv Jiajin, former president of Postal Savings Bank, resigned and joined the Bank of Communications in January 2019. Vice President Zhang Xuewen filled in during the interim.

The bank made CNY54.3 billion (USD7.8 billion) in net profit during the first three quarters of 2019, up 16.3 percent. Its annual average return on assets was up 6.25 percent annually at CNY594.3 billion from the end of 2018, while its total assets were worth just 0.74 percent more at CNY10.1 trillion (USD1.4 trillion).

The firm expects its 2019 net profit totaled between CNY58.2 billion and CNY59.2 billion, up between 16.6 percent and 18.6 percent.

Editor: James Boynton