Bank umum melantai membagikan dividen besar, dividen tinggi menonjolkan nilai investasi jangka panjang

● Media report by Shi Shiyu

As of April 2, 22 A-share listed banks have disclosed their 2025 profit distribution plans. Among them, the six largest state-owned banks are expected to have a total dividend payout exceeding RMB 420 billion for the full year. Industry insiders believe that regular cash dividends can increase investors’ actual returns and strengthen investors’ sense of gain; at the same time, they help drive the sector’s valuation to return to a reasonable range, continuously attracting medium- and long-term funds for allocation.

Full-year dividends of the six major banks may exceed RMB 420 billion

Judging from the dividend announcements already released, the six major banks remain the “main force” in dividend payments. The total 2025 interim dividend (final dividend) of the six major banks is proposed to be RMB 222.67 billion. Specifically, the six major banks’ dividend scale remains stable. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ranks first with a proposed final dividend total of more than RMB 60 billion. Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and Bank of China have proposed final dividend totals of RMB 53.08B, RMB 45.5B, and RMB 37.67B, respectively. Postal Savings Bank of China and Bank of Communications also have final dividend totals all exceeding RMB 10 billion. In terms of full-year cash dividends, the six major banks’ total proposed cash dividends for 2025 are RMB 427.4 billion, an increase of RMB 6.8 billion from 2024. They are once again standing above the RMB 420 billion mark, with the dividend payout ratio remaining at around 30%. This continues the dividend style of a high proportion and stable returns.

For shareholding commercial banks, China Merchants Bank takes the lead. Its proposed final dividend total for 2025 is RMB 25.3B, with the proposed total full-year dividend amount exceeding RMB 50 billion. For China Citic Bank and Industrial Bank, their proposed total full-year dividend amounts are both over RMB 20 billion, and their proposed final dividend totals are RMB 10.74 billion and RMB 10.6B, respectively. Among city commercial banks, as for banks that have currently released dividend proposals, aside from Zhengzhou Bank which has clearly stated it will not distribute dividends, other banks show a high level of willingness to distribute dividends.

According to statistics, based on the April 2 closing price of A-shares, and using calculations based on disclosed 2025 annual reports, the average dividend yield of the 22 A-share listed banks is 4.3%, and 6 banks have dividend yields exceeding 5%.

Continuously optimizing the dividend mechanism

Behind the standout dividend data is the listed banks’ emphasis on investor returns. Many bank management teams have stated at their performance release meetings that they will continue to optimize the dividend mechanism, maintain stable dividend levels, and make improving shareholder returns one of the core long-term business objectives.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s president Liu Jun said that the bank’s capital planning and dividend arrangements will make dynamic adjustments according to market conditions. The bank will closely observe changes in the capital market and respond to investors’ needs and voices.

“People have asked whether we can make corresponding upward adjustments in the dividend rate. As an industry bellwether, ICBC will definitely do what the market needs, and think what the market wants. If our adjustments can bring about a healthy, continuous improvement in the market, then ICBC will surely play a exemplary leading role.” Liu Jun emphasized.

Industrial Bank’s chairman Lü Jiajin said that Industrial Bank’s full-year dividend payout ratio for 2025 has been raised to 31%, which is also the bank’s 16th consecutive year of increasing its dividend payout ratio. “We attach great importance to investor returns and our work on market value management. 2026 is the opening year of the ‘Fourteenth Five-Year Plan’ (15th Five-Year) period’s first stage; we must do a solid job on our business fundamentals and base. This is the foundation for our dividend distribution and for improving valuation.” Lü Jiajin said.

Peng Zhi Gang, chief expert of the Shanghai Finance and Development Laboratory, believes that regular cash dividends can increase investors’ actual returns and enhance investors’ sense of gain. Active dividend distribution by banks helps guide funds to concentrate on high-quality banks, reflecting the capital market’s value discovery and resource allocation functions.

Valuation paths are expected to diverge

Sustained stable high dividends strengthen banks’ defensive characteristics, resonating with improvements in fundamentals, and laying the foundation for a valuation repair of the sector.

Lü Jiajin said that Industrial Bank currently has stable performance, a high dividend payout ratio, and that investing in Industrial Bank has the dual value of both yield and defense.

Bank of Communications’ president Zhang Baojiang said: “In the future, we will continue to do a good job in operational management as always, continuously improve our value creation capability, and provide broad investors with more stable performance and continuously stable dividend returns.”

From the perspective of fundamentals, the decline in many banks’ net interest margins has narrowed, while credit costs have remained stable with a trend toward lower levels. Construction Bank’s president Zhang Yi said that in 2025, that bank’s net interest margin decline narrowed by 2 basis points compared with the previous year. The deposit interest payout rate was 1.32%, down 33 basis points year-on-year, which is at a historical low level, effectively consolidating the foundation for net interest margin restoration. Liu Jun also said that in 2025, ICBC’s net interest margin was 1.28%, down 14 basis points from the previous year. The decline in the net interest margin has narrowed quarter by quarter, showing a trend of stabilization.

Multiple industry insiders told our reporter that when listed banks conduct regular dividend payments, it is not only a reflection of their financial strength, but also an important sign that China’s capital market is becoming more mature and that listed banks are placing greater importance on investor returns. From historical data, bank dividends provide clear support for bank stock prices, pushing the sector’s valuation back toward a reasonable range. This also attracts dividend-sensitive funds such as insurance capital to continuously increase their holdings of bank stocks.

Guotai Huarong Securities expects that in 2026, individual stock valuations in the banking sector will shift from convergence to divergence. Stocks with advantages such as strong credit demand acquisition capabilities on the asset side, large room for cost improvement on the liability side, the establishment of a turning point in asset quality, and active market value management will bring significant excess returns.

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