The curtain has officially risen on the annual report disclosures for A-share listed banks, with CITIC Bank being the first to present its report card, showcasing total assets surpassing the 10 trillion yuan mark for the first time and a net profit attributable to the parent company increasing by 2.98% year-on-year. On March 23, CITIC Bank held its 2025 performance briefing. Faced with industry-wide challenges such as the ongoing compression of net interest margins and the normalization of deposit outflows, the bank's Chairman, Fang Heying, elaborated on the bank's liability cost management strategy. This includes optimizing the structure of corporate and retail current deposits, precisely reducing high-cost liabilities, and clearly promoting a development path where liability costs truly establish a broad "buffer zone" to withstand the impact of low interest margins. Simultaneously, the bank also proposed an integrated approach, merging the implementation of the "Five Key Areas of Finance" with building a value-oriented bank, firmly avoiding a disconnect between strategy and business operations.
**Establishing a Broad "Buffer Zone" Against Low Interest Margin Impacts** On the evening of March 20, the disclosure of annual reports for A-share listed banks commenced, with CITIC Bank being the first to announce its results. As of the end of the reporting period, CITIC Bank's total assets exceeded 10 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 10,131.028 billion yuan, an increase of 6.28% from the end of the previous year. For the full year of 2025, the bank achieved operating income of 212.475 billion yuan, a decrease of 0.55% compared to the previous year. The net profit attributable to the parent company was 70.618 billion yuan, an increase of 2.98% year-on-year. The continued narrowing of net interest margins is one of the core challenges facing the banking industry. During the reporting period, CITIC Bank's net interest margin was 1.63%, a decrease of 0.14 percentage points from the previous year. The net interest spread was 1.60%, down 0.11 percentage points year-on-year. The yield on interest-earning assets was 3.21%, a decrease of 0.52 percentage points from the previous year, while the cost ratio of interest-bearing liabilities was 1.61%, down 0.41 percentage points year-on-year. Regarding the specific factors affecting the interest margin, Chairman Fang Heying pointed out during the earnings briefing that on the asset side, the decline in the yield on corporate loans impacted the interest margin by 19 basis points, the decline in personal loan yields impacted it by 14 basis points, the decrease in credit card loan yields affected it by 4 basis points, and the drop in yields on market-based assets impacted it by 8.6 basis points. Additionally, the proportion of credit card loans in general loans at CITIC Bank decreased by 1.4 percentage points, also impacting the interest margin by 3 basis points. Strengthening cost control on the liability side has become a crucial support for counteracting pressure on the asset side. Fang Heying stated that the decrease in the cost ratio of corporate deposits improved the interest margin by 17 basis points, the reduction in the cost ratio of personal deposits improved it by 6 basis points, and the decline in the cost ratio of market-based liabilities boosted it by 15.7 basis points. Throughout 2025, the trend of deposit outflows persisted, with funds from residents and enterprises moving towards areas like wealth management products and funds, putting some stability pressure on the liability side of banks. Against this backdrop, optimizing the deposit structure has become the core focus of bank liability management. "Managing the volume and price of liability business in a balanced way promotes liability costs to truly form a broad buffer zone against the impact of low interest margins," explained Fang Heying. A detailed analysis shows that CITIC Bank's deposit structure is relatively reasonable. The proportion of corporate current deposits is 46%, ranking among the top two in joint-stock banks. Since the strengthening of deposit self-discipline mechanisms, the value of "true current" deposits has significantly increased. The proportion of retail current deposits is 27%, having increased by 3.2 percentage points over the past two years. Besides optimizing the deposit structure, reducing high-cost liabilities was another important direction for bank liability management in 2025. It is understood that the combined proportion of three-year time deposits, structured deposits, and agreement deposits at CITIC Bank is less than 32%, which is more than 4 percentage points lower than the industry average. Wang Jianhui, a senior researcher in industrial economy, pointed out that in the current environment, the core of effective liability management for banks is to use low-cost current deposits as an anchor, reduce high-interest liabilities, strictly control overall costs, and use improvements on the liability side to buffer the pressure from narrowing interest margins on the asset side, ultimately achieving a balance between volume, price, structure, and liquidity.
**Avoiding a Disconnect Between Strategy and Business Operations** The "Five Key Areas of Finance" are the core lever for financial services to support the real economy and the fundamental path for bank transformation and development. Over the past year, CITIC Bank systematically advanced the "Five Key Areas of Finance." The balance of technology loans reached 1,072.902 billion yuan, an increase of 14.75%. Breakthroughs were made in green finance across multiple areas including green loans, underwriting and investment in green bonds, green leasing, green wealth management, carbon finance, and transition finance. For inclusive finance, the bank enhanced the standardized product system of "CITIC Easy Loan," with the balance of inclusive loans to small and micro-enterprises reaching 644.306 billion yuan, a growth of 7.42%. In pension finance, the bank continued to optimize its "financial + non-financial" service system, driving the growth of loans to the pension industry by over 100%. Digital finance involved building a "digital community" that tightly integrates finance with digital livelihoods and digital industries. The loan balance for core digital economy industries reached 246.782 billion yuan, an increase of 18.92%. "In the process of promoting high-quality development, we have consistently pondered a question: How can a bank accurately position itself in serving national strategies, and how can it build a sustainable foundation in market competition?" noted CITIC Bank's Deputy President, Gu Lingyun. The answer for CITIC Bank is clear: adopt an integrated mindset, merge the execution of the "Five Key Areas of Finance" with building a value-oriented bank, and resolutely avoid a separation between strategy and business operations. Looking ahead to 2026, Gu Lingyun emphasized that the bank will aim for high-quality development. Technology finance will take the lead, green finance will see comprehensive efforts, inclusive finance will focus on improving quality and efficiency, pension finance will consolidate its foundation, and digital finance will provide robust support. The management system for the "Five Key Areas of Finance" will be planned and advanced in tandem with the bank's development strategy. "Banks need to strengthen policy coordination with government, industry, fiscal, and tax departments, build platforms for bank-enterprise对接, establish scientific risk evaluation and accountability exemption mechanisms, and innovate service models based on regional economic characteristics. This will enable financial resources to precisely target key areas and weaker links, truly writing the 'Five Key Areas of Finance' deeply and substantively," Wang Jianhui commented.
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