Assets first surpass 10 trillion yuan! CITIC Bank Chairman directly states: "Stable decline" strategy opens up profit growth potential

Source: Huaxia Times

Author: Liu Jia

The annual report season for A-share listed banks officially kicks off. On March 23, CITIC Bank held its 2025 performance press conference.

Operating data shows that in 2025, CITIC Bank achieved operating income of 212.475 billion yuan, a slight decrease of 0.55% year-on-year, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 70.618 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.98%. In terms of asset scale, as of the end of 2025, CITIC Bank’s total assets exceeded 10 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 10.13 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.28% compared to the end of the previous year.

“What we pursue is never to run the fastest in favorable conditions, but to move the most steadily in adverse conditions,” said Chairman Fang Heying at the performance press conference. In 2026, CITIC Bank will adjust its structure, solidify its strengths, enhance its characteristics, and focus on key points.

Total assets break 10 trillion yuan for the first time

As the annual reports of A-share listed banks gradually unfold, CITIC Bank is the first to reveal its “report card.”

Specifically, in 2025, CITIC Bank’s net profit attributable to the bank’s shareholders reached 70.618 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.98%, maintaining positive growth for five consecutive years.

In terms of asset scale, as of the end of 2025, CITIC Bank’s total assets exceeded 10 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 10.131028 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.28%, successfully entering the industry’s “10 trillion club.”

The optimization of the bank’s structure is reflected in the total amount of loans and advances, which reached 5.862172 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.48%; debt investment increased by 17.33% year-on-year, and its proportion in total assets also rose; total customer deposits reached 6.05 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.69%.

In terms of revenue, CITIC Bank achieved operating income of 212.475 billion yuan in 2025, a slight decrease of 0.55% year-on-year. Although it did not achieve positive growth, non-interest net income became an important force to offset the decline in interest net income.

The annual report data also shows that the annual non-interest net income reached 68.006 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.55%. Among them, fee income was 32.77 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%.

Meanwhile, during the reporting period, CITIC Bank’s net interest margin was 1.63%, down 0.14 percentage points from the previous year; the net interest spread was 1.60%, down 0.11 percentage points from the previous year; the yield on interest-earning assets was 3.21%, down 0.52 percentage points from the previous year, and the cost rate of interest-bearing liabilities was 1.61%, down 0.41 percentage points from the previous year.

“Compared to the narrowing interest spreads in the industry, CITIC Bank’s decline was 2-3 basis points (BPs) more than the industry average,” Fang Heying admitted.

Regarding the specific factors affecting the interest spread, Fang Heying stated at the performance press conference that on the asset side, the decline in corporate loan yields led to a narrowing of the spread by 19 basis points, while the decline in personal loans, credit card loans, and market-based asset yields affected the spread by 14 basis points, 4 basis points, and 8.6 basis points respectively; at the same time, the proportion of CITIC Bank’s credit card loans in general loans decreased by 1.4 percentage points, further dragging the spread down by 3 basis points.

However, Fang Heying pointed out that on the liability side, the bank effectively hedged the pressure on the asset side through cost control, with the cost rates of corporate deposits, personal deposits, and market-based liabilities decreasing, boosting the spread by 17 basis points, 6 basis points, and 15.7 basis points respectively.

In terms of asset quality, as of the end of 2025, CITIC Bank’s non-performing loan balance was 67.216 billion yuan, an increase of 731 million yuan from the end of the previous year, an increase of 1.10%; the non-performing loan ratio was 1.15%, down 0.01 percentage points from the end of the previous year; the provision coverage ratio was 203.61%, down 5.82 percentage points from the end of the previous year.

“We are confident in maintaining the continuous stability of asset quality in 2026,” said Jin Xinian, Vice President and Chief Risk Officer of CITIC Bank, at the performance press conference. With the continuous deepening of economic transformation and the continuous improvement of the bank’s comprehensive risk management capabilities, the future asset quality will continue to improve.

In the view of Wang Jian, an analyst at Guosen Securities, among the factors contributing to performance growth, the decline in CITIC Bank’s net interest margin remains the biggest disadvantage, while the growth in the scale of interest-earning assets and the replenishment of profits through provisions jointly support profit growth.

“Compared to the challenges of narrowing interest spreads and asset quality pressure generally faced by the industry, the bank’s net profit maintains positive growth and achieves a ‘three-level leap’, reflecting its business resilience and the effectiveness of its management strategy,” said private wealth manager Wu Suwei in an analysis to reporters from Huaxia Times.

Dividend ratio hits a record high

In addition, the dividend situation of listed banks is also a focus of market attention.

Reporters from Huaxia Times noticed that CITIC Bank revealed in its annual report that it plans to increase cash dividends to 21.2 billion yuan in 2025, accounting for 31.75% of the net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders, which is 3.81 yuan per 10 shares, marking a historic high for the dividend ratio.

Regarding this year’s dividend, CITIC Bank’s Secretary of the Board Zhang Qing stated at the press conference that the bank has been continuously increasing its dividend ratio in recent years, mainly benefiting from the steady improvement in the bank’s operating performance, laying a solid foundation for continuous dividend enhancement. At the same time, the board of directors also attaches great importance to returns to investors, adhering to a stable and continuous dividend policy, and actively fulfilling the responsibilities and commitments of listed companies, sharing development results with a wide range of shareholders.

Zhang Qing stated that last year, in order to further improve market value management, the bank launched a valuation enhancement plan and developed a package of measures to enhance market value management.

“On the one hand, by focusing on value creation, we solidify the operational fundamentals; on the other hand, by using value transmission as a bridge, we enhance market confidence,” Zhang Qing introduced. A market value management team has been established under the management level to coordinate the implementation of various tasks; in terms of incentives and constraints, market value management has been incorporated into the assessment system to increase participation from all levels; in terms of dividend mechanism, we stabilize investor return expectations by increasing the dividend ratio and implementing mid-term dividends.

In Wu Suwei’s view, the record high dividend ratio reflects the emphasis on shareholder returns and conveys the management’s confidence in the sustainability of profits and capital adequacy.

Another noteworthy aspect is that the rapid development of large model technology is reshaping the banking business model.

CITIC Bank’s relevant executives introduced that the bank continues to increase investment in financial technology, and artificial intelligence technology has achieved large-scale application in multiple business areas.

CITIC Bank President Xie Zhibin cited that last year, the newly created corporate credit system was successfully launched, the enterprise intelligent collection business completed full integration, and a series of key projects such as international cross-border business were successively put into production. “Currently, CITIC Bank has established a unified AI platform, implementing intelligent service scenarios exceeding a thousand, and aims to achieve AI penetration in all major decision-making and business processes within two years.”

Fang Heying further proposed that this year, the bank will continue to maintain high-intensity investment in technology and promote the transformation of the bank’s development strategy from “AI priority” to “AI acceleration.”

“Digital transformation is not only a technology upgrade but also a core path for banks to optimize profit models and achieve sustainable growth, especially supporting the expansion of light capital businesses and refined management in the long term,” Wu Suwei analyzed.

Clarifying operating thinking

Regarding the operational management highlights for 2025, the combination of “stabilizing income and reducing costs” is the focus.

Fang Heying stated at the meeting that this approach will run through 2026 and future development, “First, stabilize interest spreads and revenue by optimizing asset allocation and enhancing investment trading capabilities, allowing interest spreads to gradually stabilize, while relying on the continuous growth of non-interest net income to offset the pressure of declining interest income; second, stabilize asset quality and reduce losses, continue to promote the ‘control new and clear old’ work on non-performing loans, and reduce credit costs; third, control costs and improve efficiency, achieving a dual decrease in both the quantity and ratio of operating costs, thereby opening up profit growth space.”

For the development in the first year of the “14th Five-Year Plan” in 2026, Fang Heying stated that the bank has also clearly insisted on “corporate business taking the lead, retail business stabilizing income, and risk control creating value,” while continuing to promote the construction of “five leading” banks, focusing on five major areas: wealth management, comprehensive financing, transaction settlement, foreign exchange services, and digitalization, leveraging the synergistic advantages of CITIC Group’s “finance + industry” to optimize comprehensive financial services.

Additionally, the meeting clarified the path for light capital transformation. Fang Heying stated that the bank has systematically verified the effectiveness of light capital transformation, and in the future will be guided by the “three new strategies” to achieve high-quality development through continuous growth of non-interest income and a reduction in overall risk weight, with a focus on light capital and high returns, changing the previous development model that relied on scale-driven growth.

Looking ahead to 2026, CITIC Bank Vice President Gu Lingyun emphasized that the goal is high-quality development, with technological finance taking the lead, green finance fully exerting its strength, inclusive finance improving quality and efficiency, pension finance solidifying its foundation, and digital finance providing solid support, planning and promoting the management system of the “five major articles” of finance and the bank’s development strategy together.

“CITIC Bank aims to adopt a holistic approach, integrating the effective execution of the ‘five major articles’ of finance with the creation of a value bank, firmly avoiding the separation of strategy and business,” Gu Lingyun said.

Editor: Feng Yingzi Chief Editor: Zhang Zhiwei