CITIC Bank's total assets surpass 10 trillion yuan, with a declining net interest margin remaining the biggest unfavorable factor.

How does CITIC Bank achieve profit growth through non-interest income amid a declining net interest margin?

“CITIC Bank’s total assets have surpassed 10 trillion yuan, successfully entering the ‘Trillion-Yuan Club.’ However, the decline in net interest margin remains the biggest obstacle to performance growth.”

On the evening of March 20, CITIC Bank released its 2025 annual performance report. The total operating income for 2025 was 212.475 billion yuan, a decrease of 0.55% compared to the previous year; among which, net interest income was 144.469 billion yuan, down 1.51%, and non-interest net income was 68.006 billion yuan, up 1.55%.

In 2025, the net interest margin was 1.63%, a year-on-year decrease of 14 basis points. This directly led to a decline in net interest income.

In 2024, the average yield on corporate loans was 4.12%, which decreased to 3.54% in 2025.

Performance attribution indicates that the decline in net interest margin remains the primary adverse factor.

CITIC Bank states that in response to industry-wide pressure on net interest margin, it will deepen efforts to upgrade the quality of its asset-liability structure and maintain stable net interest margins.

Non-interest income has become a key driver of profit growth. Net fee and commission income reached 32.772 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.58%. Notably, wealth management fees performed exceptionally well, reaching 6.135 billion yuan, a 45.17% increase year-on-year.

During the reporting period, CITIC Bank achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of 70.618 billion yuan, an increase of 2.98% from the previous year.

In 2025, CITIC Bank’s corporate business operating income was 98.829 billion yuan, a 3.77% increase, accounting for 46.5% of total revenue. Pre-tax profit from corporate business was 54.324 billion yuan, up 9.02%, representing 64.6% of pre-tax profit.

Retail business operating income was 79.367 billion yuan, a decrease of 7.37%, accounting for 37.3% of total revenue. Pre-tax profit from retail business was 5.303 billion yuan, down 42.55%.

As of the end of the reporting period, CITIC Bank’s total assets first exceeded 10 trillion yuan, reaching 10.13 trillion yuan, a 6.28% increase from the end of the previous year. This marks CITIC Bank’s first time surpassing the 10 trillion yuan mark.

By the end of 2025, the total loans and advances of CITIC Bank were 58.62172 trillion yuan, a 2.48% increase from the end of the previous year; total customer deposits were 60.49275 trillion yuan, up 4.69%.

The corporate loan balance was 3.293205 trillion yuan, a 13.24% increase; personal loans totaled 2.366798 trillion yuan, a slight increase of 0.2%.

In terms of asset quality, by the end of the year, CITIC Bank’s non-performing loan (NPL) balance was 67.216 billion yuan, an increase of 7.31 billion yuan or 1.10% from the previous year. The NPL ratio was 1.15%, a decrease of 0.01 percentage points from the end of 2024; the loan loss provision coverage ratio was 203.61%, down 5.82 percentage points from the end of the previous year.

Real estate sector NPLs amounted to 7.955 billion yuan, with an NPL ratio of 2.67%, remaining at a high level.

As of the end of the reporting period, the balance of credit risk-bearing corporate real estate financing, including loans, bank acceptance bills, guarantees, bond investments, and non-standard investments, was 380.525 billion yuan, an increase of 8.854 billion yuan from the end of the previous year. Among these, corporate real estate loans totaled 297.453 billion yuan, an increase of 12.304 billion yuan, accounting for 9.03% of the bank’s corporate loans, a decrease of 0.78 percentage points from the previous year.

According to the disclosed profit distribution plan for 2025, CITIC Bank plans to pay a cash dividend of 1.93 yuan (including tax) per 10 shares, totaling 10.740 billion yuan in cash dividends for the year. Including the interim cash dividend of 10.461 billion yuan already paid, the total annual cash dividend amounts to 21.201 billion yuan, or 3.81 yuan per 10 shares. The cash dividend payout ratio to net profit attributable to common shareholders is 31.75%, making it attractive among joint-stock banks.