Bank Annual Report Season: Ping An Bank's retail sector shows a turnaround, CITIC Bank's dividend payout ratio reaches 31.75%

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By Wu Haisai

Edited by Lin Weiping

The disclosure of annual reports for listed banks in 2025 is getting underway. Ping An Bank (000001.SZ), China CITIC Bank (601998.SH), Chongqing Bank, and Yu Nong Commercial Bank are among the first to publish their annual performance reports. The financial reports of the four banks have their own characteristics, with standout highlights.

Ping An’s retail bad-loan exposure peak has passed, CITIC’s dividend payout ratio has risen to 31.75%, Chongqing Bank’s multiple indicators have growth rates exceeding 20%, and Yu Nong Commercial Bank’s fundamentals are generally steady. But at the same time, the widespread decline in non-interest net income has become a common issue across many banks.

Ping An Bank: Retail business shows a clear rebound

Ping An Bank is still one of the A-share banks that released its annual report first.

On March 21, Ping An Bank released its 2025 financial report. The report shows that as of the end of 2025, Ping An Bank’s total assets were 59,257.77 billion yuan, up 2.7% from the end of the previous year; in 2025, it realized operating income of 131.442 billion yuan, down 10.4% year over year, and net profit of 42.633 billion yuan, down 4.2% year over year.

However, what the market is focusing on in this financial report is the change in its retail business. Ping An Bank is one of the benchmark retail banking companies among A-share listed banks. Its strategic goal is to become “China’s most outstanding and globally leading smart retail bank,” but in recent years, the retail business segment has faced pressure.

However, the 2025 annual financial report shows that Ping An Bank’s retail business may be turning a corner. According to the report, in 2025 Ping An Bank’s retail business operating income was 61.626 billion yuan, accounting for 46.9% of revenue, down from 48.6% in 2024. Still, the retail business’s share of net profit across the whole bank has increased significantly compared with 2024. In 2024, the retail business contributed only 0.6% of net profit; this figure rose to 6.3% in 2025.

At the same time, the financial report shows that in 2025 Ping An Bank’s personal loan non-performing loan ratio fell from 1.39% in 2024 to 1.23%, a decrease of 0.16%. The bank said in the report that this is mainly because it has continuously optimized its retail asset portfolio strategy, increased the proportion of high-quality customers, and promoted a balanced “volume, price, and insurance.” The report shows that in 2025 Ping An Bank’s retail loans were 1.727294 trillion yuan, down 2.3% year over year.

Ma Kunpeng, an analyst at CITIC Jianzhong Securities, said that the high-exposure peak period for Ping An Bank’s retail non-performing loans has already passed, the loan structure has continued to be optimized, and the decline in net interest margin has further narrowed. With a low base, Ping An Bank’s 2026 profit growth is expected to recover back to positive territory.

CITIC Bank: Cash dividend payout ratio increases

CITIC Bank released its 2025 annual financial report on the same day as Ping An Bank. The biggest focus in CITIC Bank’s 2025 annual report is the increase in its dividend payout ratio.

CITIC Bank’s dividend proposal shows that it plans to distribute cash dividends of 1.93 yuan (including tax) per 10 shares to A-share and H-share shareholders. The total cash dividend for common shares is 10.740 billion yuan. Together with the interim cash dividends already distributed of 10.461 billion yuan (cash dividend of 1.88 yuan per 10 shares, RMB), the total cash dividends distributed for the full year are 21.201 billion yuan (cash dividend of 3.81 yuan per 10 shares, RMB). This represents 31.75% of its annual consolidated net profit attributable to common shareholders.

Looking over a longer cycle, CITIC Bank’s cash dividend payout ratio in 2024 was 30.5%. In fact, CITIC Bank had already significantly increased its cash dividend payout ratio in 2024. From 2021 to 2023, CITIC Bank’s cash dividend payout ratio was approximately 28%.

Meanwhile, CITIC Bank’s fundamentals also show a clear improving trend. In 2025, CITIC Bank’s total assets first exceeded one trillion yuan, reaching 10,1310.28 billion yuan, up 6.28% from the end of the previous year; operating income was 212.475 billion yuan, down 0.55% year over year; but net profit attributable to shareholders was 70.618 billion yuan, up 2.98% year over year.

What draws even more attention is CITIC Bank’s fourth-quarter single-period fundamental data. In a research report, Lin Wanhuia of Huachuang Securities pointed out that CITIC Bank’s single-quarter revenue grew 8.6% year over year, with quarter-over-quarter growth accelerating by 13.1 percentage points. This was mainly because improvements in its core revenue-generating capability continued to contribute. At the same time, single-quarter net interest income growth turned positive, reaching 0.16% year over year; and single-quarter other non-interest income grew more than 50% year over year. In 2025 full year, CITIC Bank achieved net interest income of 144.469 billion yuan, down 1.51% from the previous year, and non-interest net income of 68.006 billion yuan, up 1.55%.

Lin Wanhuia said that CITIC Bank’s fundamentals are improving and its dividend payout rate is rising, which will attract additional incremental medium- to long-term capital to increase holdings, helping push its PB valuation to rebound.

Long-term capital favors joint-stock banks

In the 2025 annual reports of Ping An Bank and CITIC Bank, it’s also possible to see that long-term funds such as insurance funds have appeared multiple times on the list of the top ten shareholders.

Among Ping An Bank’s top ten shareholders, the “Ping An group” occupies three seats: Ping An Insurance, Ping An Life Insurance’s own funds, and Ping An Life Insurance’s traditional ordinary insurance. In addition, four seats are held by CSI 300 index funds: the China Industrial and Commercial Bank Huatai-Pinebridge CSI 300 exchange-traded open-end index securities investment fund, the China Construction Bank E-fund CSI 300 exchange-traded open-end index fund (launching), the China Industrial and Commercial Bank Huaxia CSI 300 exchange-traded open-end index securities investment fund, and the Bank of China Harvest CSI 300 exchange-traded open-end index securities investment fund. They are Ping An Bank’s sixth, seventh, eighth, and tenth largest shareholders, respectively, with shareholding ratios of 0.83%, 0.59%, 0.45%, and 0.39%, respectively.

Among CITIC Bank’s top ten shareholders, the 5th, 9th, and 10th positions are all long-term funds. They are: China Life Insurance Company Limited’s traditional ordinary insurance product; China Life Insurance Company Limited’s dividend personal dividend; and China Construction Bank Ningbo? Advantage? Prosperity Theme mixed securities investment fund. Their shareholding ratios are 1.63%, 0.2%, and 0.16%, respectively; these shares were basically newly added in 2025.

Chongqing Bank:

Scale, incremental growth, and growth rate all reach historical highs

On March 25, Chongqing Bank released its financial report. The report’s “high market expectations and strong business momentum” can best describe it, with multiple indicators achieving year-over-year growth of around 20%.

As of 2025, Chongqing Bank’s total assets were 1,0337.26 billion yuan, up 20.67% from the end of the previous year; total loans were 5,312.85 billion yuan, up 20.58% from the end of the previous year; total deposits were 5,657.04 billion yuan, up 19.32% from the end of the previous year. Among them, its corporate loans increased by 96.864 billion yuan from the beginning of the year, up 30.95% from the end of the previous year, with scale, incremental growth, and growth rate all hitting historical highs.

At the same time, operating income and net profit also recorded low double-digit growth. In 2025, Chongqing Bank realized operating income of 15.113 billion yuan, up 10.48% from the same period last year; it achieved net profit attributable to shareholders of 5.654 billion yuan, up 10.49% from the same period last year.

The biggest contributor to Chongqing Bank’s growth in operating income and net profit is net interest income. In 2025, Chongqing Bank’s net interest income was 12.459 billion yuan, up 22.44% year over year.

In 2025, Chongqing Bank’s average balance of interest-earning assets was 894.996 billion yuan, up 18.39%; its average yield on interest-earning assets decreased by 27 basis points to 3.53%. Meanwhile, its average balance of interest-bearing liabilities was 877.056 billion yuan, up 22.02%, while the average cost rate on interest-bearing liabilities decreased by 40 basis points to 2.18%. As a result, Chongqing Bank’s net interest spread increased by 4 basis points against the trend to 1.39% compared with the previous year.

Chongqing Bank’s asset quality saw “three declines and one increase.” As of the end of 2025, Chongqing Bank’s non-performing loan ratio was 1.14%, down 0.11 percentage points from the end of the previous year; the proportion of loans under watch was 1.94%, down 0.70 percentage points from the end of the previous year; the overdue loan ratio was 1.36%, down 0.37 percentage points from the end of the previous year; the allowance coverage ratio was 245.58%, up 0.50 percentage points from the end of the previous year.

Alongside the release of its performance, Chongqing Bank also published its 2025 end-of-period dividend distribution plan. The bank proposed to distribute cash dividends of 2.918 yuan per 10 shares (including tax), totaling 1.014 billion yuan in cash dividends (including tax). The amount of cash dividends for 2025 (including the pre-distributed amount for the third quarter of 2025) totals 1.599 billion yuan (including tax), with a cash dividend payout ratio of 30%. According to calculations by Shen Juan, an analyst at Haitong Securities, the dividend yield for Chongqing Bank’s A shares is 4.21% (data as of March 24).

Another bank in the Sichuan-Chongqing region—Yu Nong Commercial Bank—also released its 2025 financial report on March 26. In 2025, Yu Nong Commercial Bank’s asset scale was 1.6657 trillion yuan; its deposit balance was 1.0287 trillion yuan; and its loan balance was 797.3 billion yuan. Its growth rates were 9.95%, 9.21%, and 11.62%, respectively. For the full year, it achieved operating income of 28.65 billion yuan and net profit of 12.42 billion yuan, increasing 1.37% and 5.35% year over year, respectively. Like Chongqing Bank, Yu Nong Commercial Bank’s net interest income also increased year over year. In 2025, the bank achieved net interest income of 24.261 billion yuan, up 7.85% year over year.

Yu Nong Commercial Bank’s dividend distribution plan shows that in 2025 the bank has distributed an interim cash dividend of 2.0336 yuan per 10 shares (including tax) to all shareholders, totaling 2.310 billion yuan (including tax). It proposes to distribute an end-of-period cash dividend of 1.1755 yuan per 10 shares (including tax) to all shareholders, totaling 1.335 billion yuan (including tax). For the full year, it will cumulatively distribute cash dividends of 3.2091 yuan per 10 shares (including tax) to all shareholders, totaling 3.645 billion yuan (including tax). This represents 30.05% of the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies for 2025.

Non-interest net income becomes the biggest drag on performance

Ping An Bank’s financial report shows that in 2025 Ping An Bank’s non-interest net income was 43.421 billion yuan, down 18.5% year over year. Of this, net fee and commission income was 23.894 billion yuan, down 0.9% year over year; while other non-interest net income fell by 33%. Ma Kunpeng said that Ping An Bank’s revenue and profit in 2025 came under pressure mainly because other non-interest income dragged the results.

The factors dragging Chongqing Bank’s revenue and net profit are also non-interest net income. In 2025, Chongqing Bank’s non-interest net income was 2.654 billion yuan, down 24.24% year over year. Among them, net fee and commission income was 0.598 billion yuan, down 32.66% year over year; fair value change gains and investment income were 1.928 billion yuan, down 21.95% year over year.

Meanwhile, Yu Nong Commercial Bank’s non-interest net income was 4.387 billion yuan, down 23.92% year over year. Among them, fee and commission income fell by 19.17% to 1.294 billion yuan, and other non-interest income fell by 25.55% to 3.093 billion yuan.

Among the four banks, the best performance in non-interest net income is CITIC Bank. In 2025, CITIC Bank achieved non-interest net income of 68.006 billion yuan, up 1.55%. Of this, net fee and commission income was 32.772 billion yuan, up 5.58%. Other non-interest income, including investment income, was 35.234 billion yuan, down 1.93%.

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