Chongqing Bank's total assets grew by 20% annually, net income declined by over 32%, personal business lost 92.79 million, retail loan non-performing rate was 3.23%

Changjiang Business Daily reports ● Changjiang Business Daily reporter Xu Jia

Chongqing Bank (601963.SH, 01963.HK) has mixed fortunes as it enters the trillion-yuan club.

The annual report shows that in 2025, Chongqing Bank achieved an operating income of 15.113 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.48%; the net profit attributable to the bank’s shareholders (hereinafter referred to as “net profit attributable to the parent”) was 5.654 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.49%, marking the first time in five years that the growth rate of net profit attributable to the parent has exceeded 10%.

By the end of 2025, Chongqing Bank’s total assets reached 1.03 trillion yuan, a significant increase of 20.67% compared to the end of the previous year.

With the expansion of interest-generating assets and the improvement of interest margin levels, Chongqing Bank’s net interest income grew by 22.44% year-on-year, becoming an important driver of performance growth in the industry. However, on the other hand, the bank’s net income from fees and commissions in 2025 was 598 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 32.66%, which became a weakness.

The Changjiang Business Daily also noted that although the overall quality of credit assets remained stable, by the end of 2025, the total amount of retail loans at Chongqing Bank was 96.702 billion yuan, a decrease of 916 million yuan compared to the end of the previous year, with the non-performing loan ratio of retail loans rising from 2.71% at the end of the previous year to 3.23%.

Affected by high provisions for credit impairment losses, in 2025, Chongqing Bank’s pre-tax profit from personal banking business recorded a loss of 92.789 million yuan, which is rare in recent years.

After five years, the growth rate of net profit attributable to the parent has returned to 10%.

As one of the earliest local joint-stock commercial banks established in Western China and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Chongqing Bank was originally formed in 1996 by 37 urban credit cooperatives and urban credit unions as the Chongqing Urban Cooperative Bank. In 2013, Chongqing Bank was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the first mainland city commercial bank to be listed in Hong Kong. In 2021, the bank was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, becoming the third nationwide and the first “A+H” listed city commercial bank in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Under the rapid expansion of asset scale, Chongqing Bank’s performance growth has significantly accelerated. Recently, Chongqing Bank released its annual report. In 2025, the bank achieved an operating income of 15.113 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.48%; net profit attributable to the parent was 5.654 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.49%. After 2019, the growth rate of net profit attributable to the parent has returned to over 10% for the first time in five years.

Especially in the first and second quarters, where the net profit attributable to the parent grew by about 5% year-on-year, in the third and fourth quarters, Chongqing Bank achieved operating incomes of 4.081 billion yuan and 3.373 billion yuan, year-on-year increases of 17.38% and 10.79%; net profits attributable to the parent were 1.69 billion yuan and 775 million yuan, with growth rates expanding to 20.54% and 12.45%.

In the annual report, Chongqing Bank proposed a profit distribution plan of distributing a cash dividend of 2.918 yuan per 10 shares (including tax, the same below), expecting a total dividend of 1.014 billion yuan. Including the third-quarter dividend for 2025, Chongqing Bank will distribute a total of 1.599 billion yuan in 2025, accounting for 30% of the bank’s net profit attributable to the parent for 2025.

It is worth noting that Chongqing Bank has joined the trillion-yuan club. By the end of 2025, the bank’s total assets surpassed one trillion, reaching 1.03 trillion yuan, an increase of 20.67% compared to the end of the previous year; total loans were 531.285 billion yuan, an increase of 20.58% compared to the end of the previous year; total deposits were 565.704 billion yuan, an increase of 19.32% compared to the end of the previous year.

With the expansion of interest-generating assets and the improvement of interest margin levels, in 2025, Chongqing Bank achieved net interest income of 12.459 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.44%, accounting for 82.44% of operating income, becoming an important driver of performance growth in the industry.

During the reporting period, Chongqing Bank’s net interest margin and net interest yield were 1.35% and 1.39%, respectively, increasing by 13 and 4 basis points year-on-year.

On the other hand, fee-based business has become a weakness for Chongqing Bank. The Changjiang Business Daily noted that in 2025, Chongqing Bank achieved net income from fees and commissions of 598 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 32.66%. Particularly due to the low interest rate market cycle in recent years, the income from the bank’s agency wealth management business was 344 million yuan, a significant decrease of 49.29% year-on-year.

Among other income, in 2025, due to an increase in investment income from the disposal of bonds and fund investments, Chongqing Bank achieved investment income of 2.758 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.76%. However, during the same period, the bank’s fair value changes resulted in a loss of 830 million yuan, compared to a profit of 1.076 billion yuan in the same period last year.

As a result, in 2025, Chongqing Bank’s other non-interest net income totaled 2.056 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 21.38%.

Corporate business grows rapidly while personal business drags down

With rapid expansion of asset scale, Chongqing Bank’s credit asset quality overall remains stable.

The annual report shows that by 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 special mention loans was 1.94%, down 0.70 percentage points from the end of the previous year; the proportion of overdue loans was 1.36%, down 0.37 percentage points from the end of the previous year; the provision coverage ratio was 245.58%, up 0.50 percentage points from the end of the previous year.

The Changjiang Business Daily noted that the rapid growth of corporate business laid the foundation for Chongqing Bank’s trillion-yuan scale. By the end of 2025, the bank’s corporate loans increased by 96.864 billion yuan compared to the beginning of the year, a year-on-year increase of 30.95%, with scale, increment, and growth rate all hitting historical highs. Moreover, the non-performing loan ratio for corporate loans was 0.71%, down 0.19 percentage points from the end of the previous year.

In 2025, Chongqing Bank’s corporate banking business achieved an operating income of 10.975 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.88%; pre-tax profit was 6.671 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 36.8%.

However, in 2025, Chongqing Bank’s personal banking business achieved an operating income of 3.176 billion yuan, which, although a year-on-year increase of 5.77%, recorded a pre-tax loss of 92.789 million yuan, which is uncommon in recent years.

From 2019 to 2024, the pre-tax profits for Chongqing Bank’s personal banking business were 1.259 billion yuan, 983 million yuan, 1.3 billion yuan, 765.47 million yuan, 624 million yuan, and 444 million yuan, respectively.

The high impairment provisioning became the main reason for the loss in this business segment. In 2025, Chongqing Bank made a total credit impairment loss provision of 3.858 billion yuan, of which 1.854 billion yuan was for personal banking credit impairment losses, higher than the 1.743 billion yuan level for corporate banking credit impairment losses during the same period.

This is also related to the decline in the quality of Chongqing Bank’s personal credit assets. By the end of 2025, the total amount of retail loans at Chongqing Bank was 96.702 billion yuan, a decrease of 916 million yuan compared to the end of the previous year, with personal consumption loans (including personal consumption loans, mortgage loans, and credit card overdrafts) decreasing by 34 million yuan to 75.924 billion yuan compared to the end of the previous year.

By the end of 2025, Chongqing Bank’s retail non-performing loans amounted to 3.127 billion yuan, an increase of 485 million yuan compared to the end of the previous year, with the non-performing loan ratio rising from 2.71% at the end of the previous year to 3.23%.

Additionally, the rapid expansion of scale has also led to significant capital consumption. By the end of 2025, Chongqing Bank’s capital adequacy ratio, tier 1 capital adequacy ratio, and core tier 1 capital adequacy ratio decreased from 14.46%, 11.2%, and 9.88% at the end of the previous year to 12.55%, 9.62%, and 8.53%, respectively.

Editor: ZB