Agricultural Bank of China submits its 2025 report: net profit up 3.3%, non-performing loan ratio down for five consecutive quarters | Live coverage of the earnings release conference

This newspaper (chinatimes.net.cn) reporter Zhang Meng, Feng Yingzi, Beijing report

On March 30, China Agricultural Bank (601288.SH/1288.HK) officially released its annual report and held its 2025 performance briefing. The report shows that in 2025, the bank achieved operating income of RMB 725.31B, up 2.1%; and net profit of RMB 292B, up 3.3%. Both operating income and net profit maintained a “double growth” momentum.

At the briefing, President Wang Zhiheng said that in the complex and volatile operating environment in 2025, Agricultural Bank’s financial growth maintained strong resilience. Operating income has recorded positive growth for two consecutive years. Net profit not only continued to grow, but its growth rate also increased quarter by quarter, further consolidating the trend of steady progress.

“Management is full of confidence that the business performance in 2026 will be even better.” Wang Zhiheng emphasized.

In addition, the board of directors of Agricultural Bank recommended distributing a cash dividend for the end of 2025 of RMB 1.3 per 10 shares (tax included). Together with the interim dividend already distributed, the total dividend for the full year was RMB 2.495 per 10 shares (tax included). Total dividends amounted to RMB 87.32B, and the cash dividend payout ratio remained at 30%, actively repaying shareholders and sharing the results of development.

The trend of the net interest margin stabilizing is evident

In 2025, Agricultural Bank’s operating income and net profit continued to follow the pattern of “both growing positively.”

In terms of profit composition, net interest income was RMB 569.59B, accounting for 78.5% of operating income. Although it fell year over year by 1.9% due to the LPR cut and market interest rates running at low levels, it remained the “keystone” supporting revenue. Net fee and commission income reached RMB 88.09B, up 16.6%, making a significant contribution to revenue growth. Other non-interest income also increased 24.6% year over year, jointly driving steady improvement in operating income.

“Looking at the time horizon, Agricultural Bank’s financial performance is even more impressive. Its net profit growth rate has been leading comparable peers for six consecutive years; its operating income has been leading comparable peers as well. It was the first to recover and set a new historical high, achieving sustained growth on top of a high base.” Wang Zhiheng said.

Regarding the net interest margin trend that the market has paid close attention to, Wang Zhiheng responded: “Net interest income growth turned positive year over year, and it is expected to see an inflection point in the first quarter.”

He said that based on conditions in the first two months of 2026, Agricultural Bank’s business operations have continued to maintain a trend of steady progress. Direct loans increased by RMB 1.1 trillion, representing more growth year over year. The trend of the net interest margin stabilizing is evident, laying a solid foundation for the bank-wide growth in profitability.

Looking ahead to 2026, Wang Zhiheng said management is full of confidence in achieving even better business performance. And it will focus on three areas: first, promote the growth rate of net interest income to turn positive and consolidate it; second, actively expand the growth space for non-interest income; third, manage risks and costs well.

Among non-interest income, Agricultural Bank’s wealth management business development has drawn particular attention. Deputy President Lin Li positioned it as a link between residents’ savings and the economic cycle, and stressed that there is “a lot to be gained and a lot to be done” for this business.

In 2025, Agricultural Bank advanced its large wealth management business in depth. The substantial increase in net fee and commission income was mainly attributable to higher income from wealth management products and agency fund sales, with agency business growth of 87.8%.

Lin Li said that in 2025, Agricultural Bank’s large wealth management income reached RMB 35.7 billion, and wealth management fee income reached RMB 25.1 billion, becoming a new growth engine for business development. Overall, the business performance shows strong resilience, high market recognition, balanced stability, and low volatility.

Asset quality remains stable

“From the perspective of commercial banks, the watershed over the next two to three years lies in risk management capability.” Lin Li said at the briefing.

He pointed out that products can become homogeneous, services can become homogeneous, and even artificial intelligence technology in the future may become homogeneous. However, differentiated risk management is objectively present and is crucial.

Lin Li introduced that as of the end of 2025, Agricultural Bank’s non-performing loan ratio was 1.27%, down 0.03 percentage points from the end of last year, maintaining a downward trend for five consecutive years. The proportion of loans under watch was 1.39%, down 0.01 percentage points from the beginning of the year. The overdue loan ratio was 1.25%, staying at the lowest level among comparable peers, and it is the only bank among peers whose overdue ratio is lower than its non-performing loan ratio. In addition, the bank has maintained a negative “spread” between overdue and non-performing loans for five consecutive years. At the same time, loan loss reserve balances exceeded RMB 1 trillion, and the allowance coverage ratio reached 292.55%, indicating strong risk-mitigation capacity.

Lin Li emphasized that in the next stage, Agricultural Bank will continue to uphold a prudent and steady risk appetite and firmly hold the risk bottom line. “Inclusive retail loans have the ‘small, scattered, and diverse’ characteristics, but we will not let them be ‘dispersed without order’; instead, we need them to be ‘clear in appearance and sound in management.’”

Based on solid risk control, Agricultural Bank has continued to increase support from credit resources for national strategies. Wang Zhiheng introduced that in 2026, Agricultural Bank is expected to maintain a credit growth rate broadly comparable to 2025 and will continue to serve the real economy with precision.

“In the first two months of this year, China’s economy started favorably with a good start. We also seize opportunities and focus our efforts on accurate execution around national strategic deployments, and credit deployment has achieved a ‘strong start to the year.’” Wang Zhiheng said. As of the end of February, Agricultural Bank’s total new increment in loans to the real economy at the bank-wide level exceeded growth year over year. The momentum of credit growth remains steady. Among them, loan growth rates in key areas such as ‘agriculture, rural areas, and farmers,’ green initiatives, and technology continued to be higher than the bank-wide average.

Next, Agricultural Bank’s credit deployment will focus on four areas: first, further deepen support for ‘agriculture, rural areas, and farmers’ and rural revitalization, focusing on areas such as rural development and rural特色 industries; provide normalized services to key areas for national rural revitalization to ensure stable growth of county-level loans. Second, around the ‘two major’ and ‘two new’ initiatives, step up support to expand domestic demand, focusing on key projects of the 15th Five-Year Plan period while maintaining a leading momentum in consumer loan growth. Third, support the development of modern industrial systems—both helping traditional industries transform and upgrade, and accelerating innovation in technology and finance to actively cultivate new quality productive forces. Fourth, deepen financial services for improving people’s livelihood under inclusive finance, make the financing coordination and cooperation mechanisms for small and micro enterprises deeper and more practical, and further improve financial services for people’s livelihood.

Inclusive finance: advancing both quantity and quality

“Serving rural revitalization is Agricultural Bank’s primary responsibility and main business, and it is also our strategic priority, as well as our differentiated competitive advantage.” Wang Zhiheng emphasized.

He said that in 2025, Agricultural Bank firmly kept its focus on its primary responsibility and main business. It seized opportunities from the integrated urban-rural development and continuously optimized the supply of financing for rural revitalization. The development of ‘agriculture, rural areas, and farmers’ and county-level businesses kept improving in both quality and efficiency, mainly reflected in three aspects.

First, greater contribution: both county-level average daily deposits and loan increments exceeded RMB 1 trillion, and the share of increments in the bank-wide totals increased by 10.5 percentage points and 1.4 percentage points respectively from the previous year. Second, better structure: the outstanding balance of farmers’ loans surpassed RMB 1.8 trillion, with an increase of RMB 337.7 billion, and a growth rate of 22.4%. Loan growth rates in key areas such as grain and rural industries were clearly higher than the growth rate of county-level loans. Third, improved quality and returns: the non-performing loan ratio at county level fell by 0.08 percentage points compared with the beginning of the year, and asset quality continued to remain stable.

Meanwhile, inclusive finance services reached a new level. The annual report shows that as of the end of 2025, Agricultural Bank’s inclusive loans balance reached RMB 4.35 trillion, adding RMB 749.9 billion during the year. The number of inclusive small and micro enterprises with loans was 5.24 million households, adding 0.66 million households. The inclusive loan balance, the increment, and the number of inclusive small and micro enterprise customers with loans, as well as the customer increment, all ranked first among comparable peers.

“As the leading bank with the largest total supply of inclusive finance, the broadest service coverage, and the strongest ability for sustainable development, Agricultural Bank’s leading position has been further consolidated.” Wang Zhiheng said.

He also introduced that in line with the development trend of artificial intelligence, Agricultural Bank is accelerating the rollout and application of smart R&D tools in the ‘agriculture, rural areas, and farmers’ service field. By promoting a survey model of ‘on-site + remote,’ it builds an agricultural data system covering satellite data, drones, ground IoT, and other relevant data, enhancing the technological support capacity and data supply level for agricultural-related businesses and injecting stronger digital momentum into rural revitalization.

责任编辑：冯樱子 主编：张志伟

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