CITIC Bank Joins the "10 Trillion Club," with Dividends Surpassing 21.2 Billion Last Year, Setting a New Record

How does CITIC Bank achieve asset breakthroughs beyond 10 trillion yuan against the market trend?

21st Century Business Herald Reporter Guo Congcong

In the context of the banking industry facing narrowing interest margins and revenue pressure, CITIC Bank was the first to disclose its annual performance on the evening of March 20. The annual report shows that the bank’s total assets have surpassed 10 trillion yuan for the first time, ranking ninth among banks in terms of assets.

During the reporting period, CITIC Bank achieved a net profit attributable to its shareholders of 70.618 billion yuan, a 2.98% increase year-over-year; operating income was 212.475 billion yuan, a 0.55% decrease year-over-year, but non-interest net income grew by 1.55% year-over-year, indicating continuous optimization of the income structure.

In terms of asset quality, the bank’s non-performing loan ratio has decreased for seven consecutive years, maintaining robust risk absorption capacity. Meanwhile, CITIC Bank significantly increased shareholder returns, with total cash dividends exceeding 21.2 billion yuan for the year, setting new records in both dividend ratio and scale.

By 2025, CITIC Bank’s total assets surpassed the 10 trillion yuan mark for the first time, reaching 101.31028 trillion yuan, a 6.28% increase from the end of the previous year, ranking ninth among banks. While expanding in scale, the bank continued to adjust its asset-liability structure, increasing support for the real economy with targeted loans in key areas growing faster than overall loan growth.

In corporate banking, as of the end of the reporting period, the bank’s general corporate loan balance was 30.61253 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.81586 trillion yuan or 14.24% from the end of last year. Corporate asset quality remained stable and improving; at the end of the period, the bank’s non-performing loan balance (excluding bill discounting) and non-performing loan ratio decreased by 0.36 billion yuan and 0.15 percentage points respectively compared to the previous year.

Regarding industry allocation, the top four industries for incremental RMB general corporate loans are manufacturing, leasing and business services, wholesale and retail, and electricity, heat, gas, and water production and supply, each with increases exceeding 30 billion yuan, solidifying the credit foundation in traditional key sectors. Meanwhile, growth in green credit, medium- and long-term manufacturing loans, and strategic emerging industries all exceeded 10%, demonstrating CITIC Bank’s increasing allocation of financial resources to building a modern economic system.

By the end of 2025, the retail management asset balance (including market value) reached 5.36 trillion yuan, a 14.29% increase year-over-year. However, retail business net operating income and non-interest net income declined by 8.53% and 13.07%, mainly due to narrowing interest margins and poor performance in non-interest businesses like credit cards. CITIC Bank stated it will seize market trends, adhere to retail business logic, and expand customer base and product strength to provide integrated “financial + non-financial” services.

In terms of asset quality, at year-end, the bank’s non-performing loan balance was 67.216 billion yuan, an increase of 0.731 billion yuan or 1.10% from the previous year. The non-performing loan ratio was 1.15%, achieving seven consecutive declines. The loan loss reserve coverage ratio was 203.61%, down 5.82 percentage points from the end of last year, but the overall level remained stable above 200%, maintaining asset quality stability.

In the face of declining market interest rates and the banking industry’s rate cuts, CITIC Bank adhered to the themes of “stabilizing interest margins, maintaining quality, expanding medium-term income, and growing customer base,” achieving steady net profit growth despite revenue pressures.

As of the end of the reporting period, CITIC Bank’s net profit attributable to shareholders was 70.618 billion yuan, a 2.98% increase year-over-year; operating income was 212.475 billion yuan, a 0.55% decrease. Net interest income was 144.469 billion yuan, down 1.51%, while non-interest net income was 68.006 billion yuan, up 1.55%.

Looking at the income structure, non-interest income has become a key driver of profit growth. By 2025, non-interest net income accounted for 32.01%, an increase of 0.67 percentage points from the previous year. Notably, wealth management fee income performed exceptionally well, reaching 6.135 billion yuan, a 45.17% increase year-over-year; agency business fees grew by 24.77%, settlement business by 14.46%, and custody services by 8.25%. However, bank card fees declined by 10.26%, mainly due to shrinking credit card transaction volumes across the market, though transaction volumes have improved since the second half of the year.

Regarding interest margin management, the net interest margin in 2025 was 1.63%, down 14 basis points year-over-year. CITIC Bank stated that factors such as the continued decline of the LPR, lower mortgage rates on existing loans, and insufficient credit demand have caused asset prices to decline. The bank has controlled the decline in asset yields through a “raising high and lowering low” asset structure strategy; on the liability side, it has optimized the liability structure and improved liability quality to reduce funding costs.

In terms of shareholder returns, CITIC Bank set a new record for dividend payouts in 2025. According to the disclosed profit distribution plan, the bank plans to pay a cash dividend of 1.93 yuan per 10 shares (tax included), totaling 10.740 billion yuan in cash dividends for the year. Combined with the interim cash dividends of 10.461 billion yuan, the total annual cash payout reaches 21.201 billion yuan, or 3.81 yuan per 10 shares. The payout ratio of cash dividends to net profit attributable to common shareholders is 31.75%, with both the amount and ratio setting new records among joint-stock banks, making it highly attractive to investors.