Assets first break 10 trillion yuan! CITIC Bank Chairman straightforwardly states: "Stable decline" portfolio opens up profit growth space | Live coverage of the earnings release conference

This report (chinatimes.net.cn) reporter Liu Jia reports from Beijing

The annual report season for A-share listed banks has officially begun. On March 23, China CITIC Bank held its annual performance conference for 2025.

According to operating data, in 2025, China CITIC Bank achieved operating income of 212.475 billion yuan, a slight decrease of 0.55% year-on-year, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 70.618 billion yuan, an increase of 2.98% year-on-year. In terms of asset scale, by the end of 2025, the total assets of China CITIC Bank exceeded 10 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 10.13 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.28% compared to the end of the previous year.

“What we pursue is never to run fastest in favorable winds, but to proceed steadily in adverse winds,” said Chairman Fang Heying at the performance conference, adding that in 2026, China CITIC Bank will adjust its structure, solidify its strengths, enhance its characteristics, and focus on key areas.

Total assets break 10 trillion yuan for the first time

As the annual reports of A-share listed banks gradually unfold, China CITIC Bank is the first to reveal its “report card.”

Specifically, in 2025, the net profit attributable to shareholders of China CITIC Bank reached 70.618 billion yuan, an increase of 2.98% year-on-year, maintaining positive growth for five consecutive years.

In terms of asset scale, by the end of 2025, the total assets of China CITIC Bank exceeded 10 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 10.131028 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.28%, successfully entering the industry’s “trillion yuan club.”

The optimization of the bank’s structure is reflected in the total amount of loans and advances, which was 5.862172 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.48% year-on-year; debt investment increased by 17.33% year-on-year, and its proportion in total assets also rose; total customer deposits reached 6.05 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.69% year-on-year.

In terms of revenue, China CITIC Bank achieved operating revenue of 212.475 billion yuan in 2025, a slight decrease of 0.55% year-on-year. Although it did not achieve positive growth, non-interest net income became an important force to offset the decline in interest net income.

The annual report data also showed that the annual non-interest net income reached 68.006 billion yuan, an increase of 1.55% year-on-year. Among them, fee income was 32.77 billion yuan, an increase of 5.6% year-on-year.

At the same time, during the reporting period, China CITIC Bank’s net interest margin was 1.63%, a decrease of 0.14 percentage points from the previous year; the net profit margin was 1.60%, a decrease of 0.11 percentage points from the previous year; the yield on interest-earning assets was 3.21%, a decrease of 0.52 percentage points from the previous year; and the cost of interest-bearing liabilities was 1.61%, a decrease of 0.41 percentage points from the previous year.

“Compared to the industry, the narrowing of interest margins has caused China CITIC Bank to decline by 2-3 basis points more than its peers,” Fang Heying admitted.

Regarding the specific factors affecting the interest margin, Fang Heying stated at the performance conference that on the asset side, the decline in the yield on corporate loans led to a narrowing of the margin by 19 basis points, while the declines in personal loans, credit card loans, and market-based asset yields affected the margin by 14 basis points, 4 basis points, and 8.6 basis points, respectively; simultaneously, the proportion of credit card loans in general loans dropped by 1.4 percentage points, further dragging down the margin by 3 basis points.

However, Fang Heying pointed out that on the liability side, the bank effectively offset the pressure on the asset side through cost control, where the costs of corporate deposits, personal deposits, and market-based liabilities decreased, boosting the margin by 17 basis points, 6 basis points, and 15.7 basis points, respectively.

In terms of asset quality, by the end of 2025, the non-performing loan balance of China CITIC Bank was 67.216 billion yuan, an increase of 731 million yuan, or 1.10%; the non-performing loan ratio was 1.15%, a decrease of 0.01 percentage points from the end of the previous year; the provision coverage ratio was 203.61%, a decrease of 5.82 percentage points from the end of the previous year.

“We are confident in maintaining the continuous stability of asset quality in 2026,” said Jin Xinian, Vice President and Chief Risk Officer of China CITIC Bank, at the performance conference, noting that with the continuous deepening of economic transformation and the ongoing enhancement of the bank’s comprehensive risk management capabilities, future asset quality will continue to improve.

According to Guo Jian, an analyst at Guosen Securities, the decline in net interest margin remains the biggest unfavorable factor for performance growth, with the growth of interest-earning asset scale and provisions supporting profit growth jointly.

“Compared to the common challenges of narrowing interest margins and asset quality pressure faced by the industry, the bank’s net profit maintains positive growth and achieves a ‘triple jump,’ reflecting its business resilience and the effectiveness of its operating strategy,” said private wealth manager Wu Suwei in an analysis for the Huaxia Times.

Dividend ratio reaches a new high

In addition, the dividend situation of listed banks is also a focal point of market attention.

Reporters from the Huaxia Times noted that China CITIC Bank disclosed in its annual report that it plans to increase cash dividends to 21.2 billion yuan in 2025, accounting for 31.75% of the net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders, which amounts to a total dividend of 3.81 yuan per 10 shares, setting a historical high for the dividend ratio.

Regarding this year’s dividend, Zhang Qing, the Secretary of the Board of Directors of China CITIC Bank, stated at the press conference that in recent years, the bank has continued to increase its dividend ratio, benefiting mainly from the steady improvement in its operating performance, which has laid a solid foundation for continuous dividend enhancement. At the same time, the board also places great importance on returns to investors, insisting on a stable and continuous dividend policy, and actively fulfilling the responsibilities and commitments of listed companies, sharing development results with a broad base of shareholders.

Zhang Qing stated that last year, to further enhance market value management, the bank launched a valuation improvement plan and developed a series of related measures to enhance market value management.

“On one hand, focusing on value creation, solidifying operational fundamentals; on the other hand, using value transmission as a bridge to enhance market confidence,” Zhang Qing introduced, noting that the management team has established a market value management group to coordinate the implementation of various initiatives; in terms of incentives and constraints, market value management has been integrated into the assessment system to enhance participation among all levels of personnel; in terms of the dividend mechanism, expectations for investor returns have been stabilized through increasing the dividend ratio and implementing interim dividends.

In Wu Suwei’s view, the historical high dividend ratio reflects not only the emphasis on returns to shareholders but also conveys the management’s confidence in the sustainability of profitability and capital adequacy.

Another noteworthy point is that the rapid development of large model technology is reshaping the banking business model.

Relevant executives from China CITIC Bank introduced that the bank has continuously increased its investment in financial technology, with artificial intelligence technology being successfully implemented in multiple business areas.

China CITIC Bank President Xie Zhibin cited an example, stating that last year, the bank’s newly built corporate credit system successfully went live, and the corporate intelligent payment collection business completed comprehensive integration, with key projects such as cross-border international business being launched in succession. “Currently, China CITIC Bank has established a unified AI middle platform, implementing intelligent service scenarios in over a thousand instances, and aims to achieve AI penetration into all major decision-making and business processes within two years.”

Fang Heying further stated that this year, the bank will continue to maintain high-intensity technology investment, promoting the transformation of the bank’s development strategy from “AI-first” to “AI-accelerated.”

“Digital transformation is not only a technological upgrade but also a core path for banks to optimize profit models and achieve sustainable growth, especially for the expansion of light-capital businesses and refined management,” Wu Suwei analyzed.

Clarifying operational ideas

Regarding the operational management highlights for 2025, the “stabilize revenue, reduce costs” combination is a key focus.

Fang Heying stated at the meeting that this idea will run through 2026 and future development, “First, stabilize interest margins and revenue by optimizing asset allocation and enhancing investment trading capabilities, allowing margins to gradually stabilize while relying on the continuous growth of non-interest net income to offset the pressure from declining interest income; second, stabilize asset quality and reduce losses by continuing to promote ‘controlling new and clearing old’ non-performing loans, lowering credit costs; third, control costs and improve efficiency to achieve dual decreases in both the quantity and ratio of operating costs, thereby opening up profit growth space.”

For the development in the first year of the 14th Five-Year Plan in 2026, Fang Heying stated that the bank has also clearly stated that it will adhere to the strategy of “corporate business taking the lead, retail business stabilizing revenue, and risk control creating value,” while continuing to promote the construction of “five-leading” banks, focusing on wealth management, comprehensive financing, transaction settlement, foreign exchange services, and digitization, leveraging the synergistic advantages of CITIC Group’s “finance + industry” to optimize comprehensive financial services.

Additionally, the meeting also clarified the path for light-capital transformation. Fang Heying stated that the bank has systematically verified the effectiveness of light-capital transformation, and in the future, it will be guided by the “three new strategies” to achieve high-quality development through continuous growth of non-interest income and a decline in comprehensive risk weights, emphasizing a light-capital and high-yield orientation, changing the previous development model that relied on scale-driven growth.

Looking ahead to 2026, China CITIC Bank Vice President Gu Lingyun emphasized that the goal will be high-quality development, where science and technology finance should take the lead, green finance should make comprehensive efforts, inclusive finance should enhance quality and efficiency, pension finance should solidify its foundation, and digital finance should provide strong support, aligning the management system of the “five major financial articles” with the bank’s development strategy for joint planning and advancement.

“China CITIC Bank aims to integrate the promotion of the ‘five major financial articles’ with building a value bank, resolutely avoiding a disconnect between strategy and business.” Gu Lingyun said.

Editor: Feng Yingzi Chief Editor: Zhang Zhiwei