CITIC Bank released its 2025 annual report on March 20, reporting a total operating revenue of 212.5 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year decrease of 0.55%. Net profit attributable to shareholders reached 70.6 billion yuan, up 2.98% compared to the previous year. The weighted average return on equity for 2025 stood at 9.39%, down 0.4 percentage points year-on-year.
Fourth-quarter revenue increased by 8.6% year-on-year, contributing to an improvement in full-year revenue growth compared to the first three quarters. Profit growth remained stable at around 3%. For the full year, revenue, pre-provision operating profit, and net profit attributable to shareholders changed by -0.55%, 0.17%, and 2.98% year-on-year, respectively. Compared to the first three quarters of 2025, the decline in revenue narrowed by 2.91 percentage points, while pre-provision operating profit growth improved by 3.31 percentage points. Profit growth remained largely unchanged.
In terms of revenue composition, net interest income declined by 1.5% year-on-year, with the rate of decline narrowing by 0.6 percentage points compared to the first three quarters. Non-interest income grew by 1.6%, accelerating by 8 percentage points, primarily driven by improvement in net other non-interest income. Fourth-quarter revenue and profit increased by 8.6% and 2.8% year-on-year, respectively, representing changes of +5.1 and -4.6 percentage points compared to the same period last year.
Asset expansion remained steady, with corporate lending serving as a stabilizing force, while low-yielding bill assets continued to be reduced. By the end of 2025, interest-earning assets grew by 6.3% year-on-year, slightly down by 0.3 percentage points from the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, interest-earning assets increased by 289.4 billion yuan, 6.7 billion yuan less than the high base of the previous year.
In terms of asset allocation, loans, financial investments, and interbank assets increased by 79.7 billion yuan, 65.1 billion yuan, and 144.5 billion yuan, respectively, in the fourth quarter. Loans saw a year-on-year decrease of 8.6 billion yuan. Within the loan portfolio, corporate loans, retail loans, and bill discounts changed by +81.1 billion yuan, +8.5 billion yuan, and -10.0 billion yuan, respectively, from the beginning of the quarter. The bank front-loaded corporate loan disbursements to November during the peak season, driving strong growth in corporate lending. The overall slower loan growth was mainly due to active reduction of low-yielding bill assets and optimization of the asset structure.
By the end of 2025, total loans grew by 2.5% year-on-year, down 0.2 percentage points from the end of the third quarter. Corporate and retail loans grew by 13.2% and 0.2%, respectively, changing by +3.3 and -0.7 percentage points from the end of the third quarter.
For the full year, corporate loans increased by 385.1 billion yuan, up 174.1 billion yuan year-on-year, serving as the primary driver of loan growth. Key sectors included manufacturing, leasing and business services, and wholesale and retail, which increased by 132.2 billion yuan, 62.1 billion yuan, and 36.6 billion yuan, respectively, from the beginning of the year. Loans in strategic areas such as green credit, medium- and long-term manufacturing loans, strategic emerging industries, private economy, and inclusive small and micro enterprises grew by 24.8%, 19.5%, 19.1%, 8.5%, and 7.4%, respectively, all significantly higher than the overall loan growth rate.
Retail loans increased slightly by 4.7 billion yuan, mainly affected by industry-wide slowing growth in personal loans. Mortgage loans increased by 56.4 billion yuan, making the largest positive contribution. Credit card loans and personal consumption loans decreased by 25.6 billion yuan and 28.9 billion yuan, respectively, while personal business loans remained largely unchanged.
Deposit growth slowed compared to the end of the third quarter, with market-based liabilities contributing more to growth. By the end of 2025, interest-bearing liabilities and deposits grew by 6.8% and 4.7% year-on-year, respectively, down 1.0 and 3.8 percentage points from the end of the third quarter. Deposits accounted for 66.8% of interest-bearing liabilities, down 1.8 percentage points.
In the fourth quarter, interbank liabilities increased by 284.3 billion yuan, while deposits and bonds payable decreased by 18.1 billion yuan and 58.4 billion yuan, respectively. Corporate and retail deposits grew by 3% and 8% year-on-year, respectively, by the end of 2025, down 4.2 and 3.9 percentage points from the end of the third quarter.
The average balance of time deposits accounted for 59.8% of total deposits, up 0.1 percentage point from mid-year and 4.3 percentage points from the previous year. The trend of deposit term lengthening slowed noticeably in the second half of the year.
The net interest margin stabilized at 1.63%, showing signs of steadying in the second half. The full-year net interest margin was 1.63%, unchanged from the first three quarters but down 14 basis points from the beginning of the year. Pressure on margin compression was concentrated in the first half, with stabilization occurring in the second half.
The yield on interest-earning assets and loans stood at 3.21% and 3.67%, respectively, both down 12 basis points from mid-year. The cost of interest-bearing liabilities and deposits were 1.61% and 1.52%, down 12 and 13 basis points, respectively. Improved liability cost management and more normalized deposit market competition supported the stabilization of the net interest margin.
Non-interest income grew by 1.6% year-on-year, turning positive. Non-interest income accounted for 32% of operating revenue, up 0.7 percentage points year-on-year, indicating stable revenue structure.
Net fee and commission income increased by 5.6%, largely unchanged from the first three quarters. Wealth management, agency services, and settlement and clearing fees grew significantly by 45.2%, 24.8%, and 14.5% year-on-year, respectively. Bank card fees decreased by 10.3%, mainly due to industry-wide contraction in credit card transaction volume, though they remained the largest contributor to fee income.
Net other non-interest income declined by 1.9%, with the rate of decline narrowing by 15 percentage points compared to the first three quarters. Investment income and fair value changes totaled 29.2 billion yuan, contributing 83% of non-interest income but decreasing by 3.9 billion yuan due to capital market volatility and a high base effect from the previous year.
The non-performing loan ratio and special-mention loan ratio stood at 1.15% and 1.62%, respectively, both down 1 basis point from the end of the third quarter. The non-performing loan formation rate was 1.15%, up 4 basis points year-on-year, mainly due to increased NPL formation in personal loans.
The bank set aside 58.2 billion yuan in credit impairment losses in 2025, down 4.8% year-on-year. In the fourth quarter, provisions amounted to 13.3 billion yuan, up 3.6 billion yuan year-on-year. The loan loss provision coverage ratio stood at 203.6%, down 0.6 percentage points from the end of the third quarter, while the provision-to-loans ratio was 2.33%, down 3 basis points. Risk absorption capacity remained stable.
The dividend payout ratio for 2025 increased to 31.75%, marking the second consecutive year of improvement. Core tier 1, tier 1, and total capital adequacy ratios stood at 9.48%, 10.9%, and 12.8%, respectively, down 11, 13, and 20 basis points from the end of the third quarter. Risk-weighted assets grew by 8.7% year-on-year, up 1.5 percentage points from the end of the third quarter.
CITIC Bank continues to implement its 2024–2026 development plan, focusing on building a distinctive financial service model and deepening its value chain in wealth management, asset management, and comprehensive financing. The bank maintained steady asset expansion in 2025, with profit growth stabilizing around 3%. The consecutive increase in the dividend payout ratio supports stable return expectations for investors. In November 2025, the bank’s AIC subsidiary, CITIC Bank Financial Investment, received approval to commence operations, which is expected to enhance the bank’s comprehensive business capabilities.
Risks include potential increased exposure to large risks if the macroeconomic environment deteriorates more than expected.
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