Net loans of Hong Kong's top 4 banks have more than doubled since 2009

Annual profits have also grown consistently.

The four largest Hong Kong banks — HSBC Holdings Plc's Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd., Bank of China Ltd.'s BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd., Standard Chartered Plc's Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. and Bank of East Asia Ltd. — have seen notable growth in the past five years.

According to a report from SNL Financial, the banks saw net loans more than double between the end of 2009 and the first half of 2014 to HK$4.80 trillion, and they have consistently grown annual profits over the same period.

In 2013, net profit for the four banks was HK$170.2 billion, up 135.31% from HK$72.3 billion in 2009. The banks earned net income of HK$71.6 billion during the first half of 2014.

Here's more from SNL Financial:

Only two of the banks' common shares are listed on the Hong Kong exchange, and both have seen mixed market performance in the last five years.

Shares of BOC Hong Kong, in which Bank of China owns an approximately 66% stake, returned 98.5% in the five years ended Sept. 8, while Bank of East Asia had a total return of 43.4%.

By comparison, the SNL Asia-Pacific Bank Index posted a total return of 54.7% during the same period.

Hongkong & Shanghai Banking is the largest Hong Kong bank, with total assets of HK$6.765 trillion as of June 30.

It was also the most profitable bank in the group, with an ROAA of 1.51% in the first half.

BOC Hong Kong had the lowest efficiency ratio of the group at 28.70%, and it had the second-highest tangible equity ratio at 8.39% at June 30 after Bank of East Asia's 8.39% ratio.