Bullet Finance | Listing

Author | Li Wei

Editor | Egg Boss

Graphic Designer | Qian Qian

Reviewer | Song Wen

In mid-February this year, Guangzhou Bank announced three procurement projects, revealing plans to increase capital through share expansion, aiming to further strengthen its capital base.

This capital increase occurred after Guangzhou Bank withdrew its A-share IPO application. The bank has been pursuing a listing since 2009, and after 16 years—finalized in January 2025—it withdrew its IPO application, highlighting the urgent need to address capital deficiencies.

Guangzhou Bank Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Guangzhou Bank”) was originally established in 1996 as Guangzhou City Cooperative Bank. It has now developed into the largest legal city commercial bank in Guangdong Province.

As of the end of Q3 2025, the bank’s total assets reached 912.076 billion yuan, considered a “quasi-trillion” city commercial bank. During the same period, the bank achieved operating income of 9.722 billion yuan, down 9.67% year-over-year, but net profit data was not disclosed.

Notably, Guangzhou Bank announced the closure of seven credit card branches at the end of January. In recent years, its credit card business—accounting for half of its retail sector—has declined, with credit card loan balances decreasing by 18.11% year-over-year at the end of 2024, and a credit card loan non-performing rate of 3.58%, indicating significant risk.

Additionally, according to incomplete statistics, Guangzhou Bank received four penalties in 2026, totaling 2.8 million yuan.

Facing challenges in performance growth and internal control compliance, how will the newly appointed Chairman Li Dalong turn the situation around? Will this capital increase and share expansion proceed smoothly?

1. Planning to initiate share expansion and capital replenishment after IPO withdrawal

Recently, Guangzhou Bank announced plans for share expansion and procurement of related intermediary services through competitive consultation.

Specifically, three types of intermediary agencies are involved: accounting firms, securities companies, legal services (law firms, legal advisors), and asset appraisal services.

As of press time, the bank’s official website has removed three tender notices. Tianyancha disclosed that the bank’s financial advisory service procurement project for the capital increase has completed evaluation, with two candidates announced as winners.

The first candidate is CITIC Securities and Wanshun Securities, with a bid of 550,000 yuan; the second is Guotai Haitong Securities, with a bid of 280,000 yuan. The tender announcement was publicized until March 6, and after the publicity period, the first candidate will become the final supplier.

(图 / Guangzhou Bank’s planned share expansion project procurement announcement (Source: Tianyancha, Guangzhou Bank official website))

It is noteworthy that this share expansion occurred after the withdrawal of the A-share IPO application.

Guangzhou Bank first proposed a listing plan in 2009, applied for an IPO in June 2020 which was accepted by the CSRC, but in 2024, the process was halted due to expired financial data and changes in accounting firms.

In January 2025, the bank officially withdrew its IPO application, and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange decided to terminate the review, ending its 16-year pursuit of a listing.

According to the bank’s previous prospectus, since its establishment, aside from dividend payouts, it has completed seven rounds of share capital increases and expansions (including rights issues). Between 2005 and 2008, its total share capital increased from 2 billion to 8.3 billion shares. After renaming, in 2018, it completed another billion-level capital increase.

In the strategic context of delaying IPO, shifting toward share expansion and capital replenishment appears to be the optimal solution.

As of the end of Q3 2025, Guangzhou Bank’s core Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio, Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio, and total capital adequacy ratio were 7.73%, 9.2%, and 12.65%, respectively, down from the end of the previous year by 1.37, 0.8, and 0.96 percentage points, reflecting an urgent need for capital supplementation.

More importantly, while expanding capital, the bank also needs to further optimize its equity structure and promote long-term, stable development.

In terms of ownership structure, Guangzhou Bank exhibits clear characteristics of local state-owned capital control. The 2024 annual report shows that Guangzhou Financial Holdings, as the controlling shareholder, directly and indirectly holds 42.3% of the shares.

(图 / Guangzhou Bank’s top ten shareholders and shareholding structure (Source: Guangzhou Bank 2024 Annual Report))

However, in the second half of 2025, Guangzhou Bank experienced a “sell-off” of state-owned enterprise shareholders’ holdings.

Bullet Finance previously detailed in the article “Guangzhou Bank sees multiple shareholders divest, net profit down 60% last year, 16-year listing journey ends” how the Bank of Communications and CNOOC sold their holdings in Guangzhou Bank, with several share sales repeatedly failing at auction platforms.

Regarding the latest developments in share expansion, whether the plan has a clear timeline, and which intermediaries are favored, Bullet Finance attempted further communication with Guangzhou Bank but has not received a response as of press time.

2. Performance decline needs addressing; pushing for “Second Entrepreneurship”

With total assets approaching one trillion yuan, Guangzhou Bank, as a local legal city commercial bank in Guangdong, has relatively strong overall competitiveness.

As of the end of Q3 2025, total assets reached 912.076 billion yuan, up 6.7% from the end of 2024’s 854.805 billion yuan, considered a “quasi-trillion” city commercial bank.

Reviewing the period from 2020 to 2024, the bank’s total assets grew at compound rates of 14.33%, 12.23%, 10.25%, 4.76%, and 2.77%, respectively. Despite slowing growth, the scale continued to expand, maintaining its position as the largest legal city commercial bank in Guangdong.

However, despite scale expansion, the bank’s performance shows signs of decline.

As of the end of Q3 2025, Guangzhou Bank achieved operating income of 9.722 billion yuan, down 9.67% from 10.763 billion yuan in the same period of 2024. In the first half of 2025, revenue was 6.702 billion yuan, a year-over-year decrease of 10.16%, with net profit data not disclosed.

Bullet Finance found that Guangdong Province has five local city commercial banks. Besides Guangzhou Bank, only Dongguan Bank disclosed its revenue and net profit for the first three quarters of 2025—69.18 billion yuan and 2.546 billion yuan, respectively. This indicates Guangzhou Bank’s revenue surpasses Dongguan Bank.

Since some Guangdong city commercial banks have not disclosed 2025 operational data, comparing 2024 year-end figures shows Guangzhou Bank remains the leader in revenue at 137.85 billion yuan.

However, at the end of 2024, its net profit attributable to shareholders was 1.012 billion yuan, ranking third among local banks, behind Dongguan Bank’s 3.738 billion yuan and Guangdong Huaxing Bank’s 2.852 billion yuan. Profitability still needs improvement.

Before 2024, Guangzhou Bank’s revenue declined for two consecutive years, and net profit fell for four consecutive years. Facing performance pressures, how Chairman Li Dalong, who took office at the end of 2024, will accelerate reform has become a key concern.

In early 2026, Guangzhou Bank launched a comprehensive “Second Entrepreneurship” reform, emphasizing a development path of “six ‘化’”:特色化 (specialization),本地化 (localization),差异化 (differentiation),轻型化 (lightweight),数智化 (digital intelligence),规范化 (standardization). It targets seven customer groups, including industrial parks, small and medium foreign trade enterprises, and “little giants” with specialized and innovative features.

Regarding asset quality, the bank has not disclosed relevant data since 2025.

Bullet Finance previously reported that as of the end of 2024, the non-performing loan ratio was 1.84%, down 0.21% year-over-year; NPL balance was 8.525 billion yuan, a decrease of 10.36%. The loan loss reserve coverage ratio was 158.76%.

According to the statistics from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the average non-performing loan ratio for city commercial banks in 2024 was 1.76%, and the average loan loss reserve coverage ratio was 188.08%. Guangzhou Bank’s indicators are below the city commercial bank average.

Regarding whether performance has improved after Chairman Li Dalong’s first year, and what strategic reforms “Second Entrepreneurship” entails, Bullet Finance attempted further communication but has not received a reply.

Currently, Guangzhou Bank is at a critical stage shifting from scale expansion to high-quality development. How it will reverse the downward trend remains to be seen.

3. Closure of all credit card branches and penalties exposing compliance issues

In recent years, retail banking transformation has become a key area for domestic banks to reshape profit growth. However, in early 2026, Guangzhou Bank announced the cancellation of all off-site credit card branches, sparking speculation about adjustments in its retail business structure.

On January 29, 2026, Guangzhou Bank’s official website issued a notice stating that, based on the approval from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the bank’s credit card centers in Jiangmen, Shenzhen, Zhongshan, and four other branches have ceased operations.

The 2024 annual report shows that the bank had seven credit card branches at the end of that year, meaning all were closed.

(图 / Guangzhou Bank’s notice of credit card branch closures (Source: Guangzhou Bank official website))

In fact, the scale of credit card loans has been declining, making the closure of branches a major strategic adjustment.

The financial report shows that from 2020 to 2024, credit card loan balances were 712.99 billion yuan, 889.38 billion yuan, 1,015.08 billion yuan, 860.17 billion yuan, and 704.42 billion yuan, with year-over-year growth rates of 17.93%, 24.74%, 14.13%, -15.26%, and -18.11%, respectively.

2022 marked a turning point, after which the credit card loan scale dropped below 1 trillion yuan.

Additionally, the proportion of credit card loans in total retail loans was 46.28%, 50.1%, 55.08%, 46.59%, and 44.83% over the five years, indicating that credit card business has historically been a dominant part of the retail sector. Its adjustment could significantly impact the bank’s retail financial foundation.

The China Securities Puyang Rating Agency’s 2025 rating report on Guangzhou Bank states that as of the end of 2024, the bank’s credit card non-performing rate was 3.58%. Previously, the bank’s IPO prospectus disclosed a 4.88% non-performing rate at the end of 2023.

Thus, overdue credit card loans are a key factor in the bank’s business adjustments.

More critically, data from YinDengWang at the end of May 2025 shows that Guangzhou Bank issued four notices for personal bad loan transfer projects, all related to personal credit card bad loans.

(图 / Guangzhou Bank’s four personal bad loan transfer notices in 2025 (Source: YinDengWang))

The notices show that the four personal bad loan portfolios (including principal, interest, and fees) totaled 875 million yuan, 874 million yuan, 871 million yuan, and 1.167 billion yuan, with a total of 3.787 billion yuan, indicating significant challenges in managing credit card bad debts.

Objectively, the contraction of credit card business is not unique to Guangzhou Bank. In the second half of 2025, major state-owned banks announced plans to gradually shut down credit card apps and shift to mobile banking platforms. In early 2026, Bank of Communications and China Merchants Bank also adjusted their credit card center leadership.

The future of retail credit growth and how to acquire new markets remain key concerns.

Meanwhile, penalties highlight risks in credit management. Bullet Finance found that since early 2026, Guangzhou Bank has received four penalties:

• January 6: Zhaoqing branch fined 650,000 yuan for “improper transfer of mortgage insurance premiums to small and micro enterprises, misappropriation of loan funds, and inadequate pre-loan investigations.”
• January 9: Zhaoqing branch fined 1.35 million yuan for poor loan management.
• January 14: Zhanjiang branch fined 300,000 yuan for inadequate group customer credit approval; warnings and fines issued to Niu Yuqi (5 million yuan), Tan Shang, and Peng Xiaojun.
• February 14: Shantou branch fined 500,000 yuan for inadequate pre- and post-loan management and staff behavior management.

Although the penalty amounts are modest, they reveal risks in branch credit management, especially in loan operations.

Have these issues been rectified? Will closing credit card branches impact retail loan scale? How will the bank reduce credit card non-performing loans? Bullet Finance attempted further communication but has not received a reply.

For Guangzhou Bank, which has delayed its A-share IPO, share expansion and capital increase may attract new strategic investors and promote reform.

However, the bank faces challenges such as declining performance, shrinking credit card loans, and internal control issues. Its success in resolving these will determine its future trajectory.

Image sources: Setu.com, based on VRF protocol.