Bank of Chengdu Co., Ltd. recently disclosed its Q3 2025 financial report, showing operating revenue of 17.761 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.01%, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 9.493 billion yuan, up 5.03%. However, over the past three years, the bank has faced a noticeable slowdown in growth despite maintaining steady performance.
While traditional corporate banking faces bottlenecks and retail transformation proves challenging, Bank of Chengdu has aggressively expanded its personal consumer loan business. At this crossroads of shifting performance trends and tightening regulations, the bank is actively seeking transformation.
**1. Sustained Growth but Declining Momentum** Established in December 1996 and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in January 2018, Bank of Chengdu has been a regional financial leader. Benefiting from policy support in Western China and the Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone, its total assets exceeded 1.39 trillion yuan by Q3 2025, ranking 170th in The Banker's "Top 1000 Global Banks 2025" and making the Fortune China 500 list.
However, revenue growth has slowed for three consecutive years. From 2022 to 2024, revenue increased from 20.241 billion yuan to 22.982 billion yuan, but growth rates dropped from 13.14% to 5.89%. In Q3 2025, revenue growth further declined to 3.01%. The bank’s heavy reliance on net interest income (80.33% of total revenue in 2024) highlights structural imbalances, with non-interest income contributing only 19.67%, ranking second-lowest among 17 listed city commercial banks.
Net profit growth also decelerated, from 28.24% in 2022 to 10.17% in 2024, and further to 5.03% in Q3 2025. Net interest margins shrank from 2.04% in 2022 to 1.66% in 2024, reflecting pressure from interest rate liberalization and support for the real economy.
**2. Stable Asset Quality but Risks in Consumer Loans** Despite slowing growth, asset quality remains robust, with non-performing loan ratios stable at 0.66%–0.78% from 2022 to Q3 2025. However, the provision coverage ratio declined from 501.57% to 433.08%, signaling reduced risk buffers.
Personal consumer loans surged as a new growth driver, with balances reaching 138.702 billion yuan by end-2024 (18.71% of total loans). Personal consumer loans (including credit cards) grew 22.59% year-on-year, totaling 22.095 billion yuan—a 73.23% increase over three years. Yet, partnerships with third-party lending platforms (e.g., Ant Group, JD.com, Tencent) raise concerns about risk control and compliance, including hidden fees exceeding regulatory caps (e.g., a reported 35.98% effective annual rate).
**3. Regulatory Warnings and Leadership Reshuffle** In January 2025, Sichuan regulators issued a warning due to violations in fund sales, including inadequate internal controls and unqualified sales staff. Concurrently, top executives, including Chairman Wang Hui, departed in a major leadership overhaul. New Chairman Huang Jianjun and Vice Chairman Zhang Yuming now face the dual challenge of stabilizing operations and strengthening governance.
Despite these challenges, Bank of Chengdu remains pivotal in supporting local infrastructure and industries, with initiatives like the "Runyuan Huiqi" program extending over 80 billion yuan in loans to 1,800+ manufacturers. This local focus underpins its sustainable development strategy amid ongoing reforms.
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