The first joint-stock commercial bank with total assets exceeding 13 trillion yuan has been born. After the market closed on January 23, China Merchants Bank (600036.SH, 3968.HK) disclosed its 2025 performance forecast. In 2025, CM BANK achieved a total operating revenue of 337.532 billion yuan, a marginal increase of 0.01% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 150.181 billion yuan, up 1.21% compared to the previous year. Throughout 2025, CM BANK's single-quarter revenue changes for the first three quarters were -3.08%, -0.36%, and 2.12% year-on-year, respectively, culminating in a full-year increase of 0.01%; net profit changes for the first three quarters were -2.08%, 2.67%, and 1.04% year-on-year, respectively, resulting in a full-year growth of 1.21%. This indicates that CM BANK, often referred to as the "King of Retail," may have reached an inflection point in its fundamental business performance. At the close on January 23, CM BANK's A-shares fell 0.92% to 37.5 yuan, underperforming the broader banking sector, with a net outflow of 672 million yuan in main funds, making it the stock with the largest net outflow in the sector; CM BANK's Hong Kong-listed shares showed relative stability, closing up 0.22%, with a net inflow of 204 million HKD in main funds, suggesting sustained confidence from overseas investors largely unaffected by A-share sentiment. Notably, as of the end of 2025, CM BANK's total assets increased by 918.487 billion yuan from the end of the previous year, a growth of 7.56%, officially surpassing 13 trillion yuan to reach 13.07 trillion yuan. CM BANK's asset scale surpassed the 11 trillion, 12 trillion, and 13 trillion yuan marks at the end of 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively, adding approximately 1 trillion yuan in assets annually over the past three years. Regarding asset quality, as of the end of 2025, CM BANK's non-performing loan (NPL) ratio was 0.94%, down 0.01 percentage points from the end of the previous year; the provision coverage ratio stood at 391.79%, a decrease of 20.19 percentage points; the loan provision ratio was 3.68%, down 0.24 percentage points. Observing the past five years, CM BANK's NPL ratios were 0.91%, 0.96%, 0.95%, 0.95%, and 0.94%, consistently remaining below 1% and demonstrating relative stability.
Regarding the closely watched net interest margin (NIM) within the industry, its disclosure is typically reserved for the full annual report release scheduled for the end of March this year. In October of last year, Peng Jiawen, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of CM BANK, stated during the Q3 earnings call that the bank's NIM was characterized by "leading absolute level, pressure on relative changes, and controllable future trend," expressing confidence in managing future NIM fluctuations. Furthermore, the goal of increasing market share in retail lending remains unchanged, while corporate lending strategies and specific sector focuses have been recalibrated. However, CM BANK's weighted average return on equity (ROE) has declined for three consecutive years, recording 16.22%, 14.49%, and 13.44% over the past three years, respectively. Management indicated during last year's earnings call that the bank's ideal ROE level is above 15%, but acknowledged increased external uncertainties. While admitting that ROE might not consistently stay above 15%, they expressed strong confidence in maintaining a significant lead over peer banks. One week prior, on January 16, CM BANK completed its first interim dividend distribution, paying a cash dividend of RMB 1.013 per share (before tax), totaling approximately RMB 25.548 billion (before tax), representing a dividend payout ratio of 35.02%. To date, four joint-stock banks—Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, China CITIC Bank, Industrial Bank, and China Merchants Bank—have disclosed their 2025 performance forecasts. Barring unforeseen circumstances, all members of the joint-stock bank "10 Trillion Club" have completed their disclosures. All four banks achieved milestone breakthroughs in total assets last year. Among them, CM BANK's total assets surpassed 13 trillion yuan, growing 7.56% year-on-year, maintaining its position as the leading joint-stock bank. Industrial Bank's total assets broke through the 11 trillion yuan mark, securing the second position with a growth rate of 5.57%, indicating steady expansion of its asset scale. Specifically, as of the end of 2025, Industrial Bank's total assets reached 11.09 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.57% from the end of the previous year. For 2025, the bank achieved positive growth in both revenue and net profit for the second consecutive year, with operating revenue of 212.741 billion yuan (up 0.24% YoY), total profit of 89.973 billion yuan (up 3.27% YoY), and net profit attributable to parent company shareholders of 77.469 billion yuan (up 0.34% YoY). China CITIC Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank both surpassed the 10 trillion yuan threshold for the first time, with growth rates of 6.28% and 6.55% respectively, ranking third and fourth in the sector. Among them, China CITIC Bank's total assets reached 10,131.658 billion yuan as of end-2025, a year-on-year increase of 6.28%. In 2025, it achieved a total profit of 84.043 billion yuan, up 3.93% YoY; net profit attributable to the bank's shareholders was 70.618 billion yuan, an increase of 2.98% YoY. Operating revenue for the same period was 212.475 billion yuan, a slight decrease of 0.55% compared to the previous year. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank's total assets reached 10.08 trillion yuan as of the end of 2025, an increase of 6.55% from the end of the previous year. For the 2025 fiscal year, SPDB achieved operating revenue of 173.964 billion yuan, an increase of 3.216 billion yuan or 1.88% YoY; net profit attributable to parent company shareholders was 50.017 billion yuan, an increase of 4.76 billion yuan or 10.52% YoY. All four joint-stock banks achieved positive net profit growth, collectively exhibiting characteristics of stable scale expansion, differentiated profitability, and optimized asset quality. With the release of the performance forecasts from these four joint-stock banks, the membership of China's banking industry "10 Trillion Asset Club" has officially expanded to ten institutions, encompassing six large state-owned commercial banks and four joint-stock commercial banks, highlighting the significant concentration effect among leading players in the banking sector. Previously, in 2015, the "Regulations on the Classification Standards for Financial Enterprises," jointly issued by five departments including the People's Bank of China and the former China Banking Regulatory Commission, defined medium-sized banking institutions as those with assets between 500 billion yuan and 4 trillion yuan, small institutions between 5 billion yuan and 500 billion yuan, and micro institutions below 5 billion yuan. No explicit definition was provided for large banks. Data shows that as of the end of the third quarter of 2025, the total assets of China's financial institutions reached 5,317.6 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.7%. Specifically, the total assets of banking institutions were 4,743.1 trillion yuan, up 7.9% YoY; securities industry institutions' total assets were 170.5 trillion yuan, up 16.5% YoY; and insurance industry institutions' total assets were 404 trillion yuan, up 15.4% YoY.
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