At a joint press conference for CITIC Group's 2026 interim results on September 4, Hu Gang, Executive Director and Vice President of China Citic Bank Corporation Limited (SH: 601998; HK: 00998), attributed the bank's first-half achievements to robust financial metrics and a stellar stock market performance, offering a two-fold perspective on its operational success for the period.
The financial data revealed three distinct characteristics. First, there was simultaneous growth in both revenue and profit, with each expanding by over 3% year-on-year, making it one of the few joint-stock banks to sustain positive net profit growth since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Second, asset quality remained stable, with the non-performing loan ratio holding steady at 1.15% and the new NPL formation rate at 0.55%, both flat year-on-year, while the provision coverage ratio stayed comfortably above 200% at 203.12%. Third, cost efficiency improved, as operating expenses declined by 2.1% and the cost-to-income ratio narrowed by 1.35 percentage points compared to the same period last year.
In terms of share price performance, CITIC BANK has outperformed the broader market for four consecutive years, with its A-shares and H-shares climbing 17.9% and 23.97% respectively from January to August, ranking first among joint-stock banks. The bank's total market capitalization has surpassed RMB 460 billion, securing its position as the second most valuable joint-stock bank by market cap.
Hu Gang noted that these impressive operational results reflect two core developmental attributes of the bank: sustainability and security. Sustainability is evidenced in three areas. Firstly, the bank enjoys a significant net interest margin advantage backed by superior liability costs, as a strong low-cost deposit base supports a resilient spread with a decline narrower than the industry average, establishing a secure and sustainable core profitability edge. Secondly, its asset-light development strategy is yielding results, with non-interest income growing steadily and its share of total revenue increasing, driven by enhanced capabilities in wealth management, asset management, and investment trading, leading to a continuously optimized revenue mix. Thirdly, customer operations are becoming more efficient, with client bases across corporate, retail, and private banking segments expanding steadily in scale and improving in structure, while the bank's ability to serve clients and anticipate their needs continues to strengthen.
These pillars, he added, underpin the bank's capacity to maintain a stable development trajectory while safeguarding against risks in a challenging market environment.
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