China Merchants Bank 2025 Annual Report Released: Achieved a net profit of 150.181 billion yuan, with net interest margin narrowing to 1.87%

The reporter-in-chief of 每经｜Zhao Jingzhi    The editor of 每经｜Yang Jun

Late in the evening of March 27, China Merchants Bank (SH600036, share price 39.44 yuan, market cap 994.7 billion yuan), with a total market value of about 1 trillion yuan, released its 2025 performance report.

The above performance report shows that China Merchants Bank’s total asset scale reached 14 trillion yuan. During the reporting period, the bank achieved operating income of 337.273 billion yuan and net profit of 150.181 billion yuan, representing year-on-year growth of 0.05% and 1.21%, respectively.

Net interest margin narrowed by 11 basis points year-on-year

China Merchants Bank’s 2025 annual report shows that its total assets at the end of the period were 13.07 trillion yuan, up 7.56% from the end of the previous year; total customer deposits were 9.84 trillion yuan, up 8.13% year-on-year.

In terms of income structure, China Merchants Bank’s net interest income accounted for 63.87%, while non-interest net income accounted for 36.13%, continuing to maintain a leading position in the industry.

In addition, China Merchants Bank’s net interest margin fell by 11 basis points year-on-year to 1.87%. Of note is that on a quarter-on-quarter basis, in the fourth quarter of 2025, China Merchants Bank’s net interest earning rate showed an upward quarter-on-quarter trend, rising by 3 basis points compared with the third quarter to 1.86%.

“Looking ahead to 2026, the Group’s net interest earning rate is expected to remain under certain degree of pressure.” China Merchants Bank said it will strengthen asset-liability portfolio management going forward, and drive the continued growth of net interest income and the steady operation of the net interest earning rate.

In 2020, China Merchants Bank proposed building a value circulation chain for large wealth management, aiming to connect customers’ funding-end and financing-end needs more effectively with a new model, and to grow the low-capital business. In 2024, China Merchants Bank’s large wealth management revenue (including wealth management, asset management, and custody business fee and commission income) was 37.647 billion yuan, down 16.84% year-on-year. A reporter noted that China Merchants Bank’s large wealth management business rebounded in 2025, with revenue of 44.013 billion yuan, up 16.91% year-on-year.

Wealth management fee and commission income was 26.711 billion yuan, up 21.39%. Of this, after agency fund business had experienced a sharp downturn earlier, in 2024 China Merchants Bank announced that its fund distribution fee rates would be comprehensively reduced to one-tenth (i.e., 10% of the previous rate) as a minimum from “one fold start,” and that the “swap volume for price” strategy took effect. A reporter from 每日经济新闻 noted that in 2025, China Merchants Bank’s agency fund income was 5.846 billion yuan, up 40.36%.

For asset management fee and commission income, China Merchants Bank’s income in 2025 was 11.927 billion yuan, up 10.94% year-on-year, mainly due to the growth in the scale of its subsidiary’s asset management business. Custody business commission income was 5.375 billion yuan, up 9.90% year-on-year, mainly due to growth in custody scale and improvement in quality and efficiency.

Credit cards’ circulation cards up, transaction value down

Over the past year, the credit card market has continued to contract, with industry adjustment entering a “deep-water zone.”

The latest data from the People’s Bank of China show that as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, the stock of nationwide credit cards and co-branded debit/credit cards totaled 696 million cards, down by about 31 million cards from the end of 2024, and down by as much as 111 million cards compared with the historical peak at the end of the third quarter of 2022.

Of note is that, according to data disclosed by China Merchants Bank, as of the end of 2025, the bank had 97.451 million credit cards in circulation and 70.1065 million circulation account holders, which were higher than 96.859 million cards and 69.4409 million account holders at the end of 2024. However, in 2025, credit card transaction value still continued to contract, at 4,082.047 billion yuan, down 7.62% year-on-year.

In terms of credit card asset quality, a reporter noted that China Merchants Bank’s credit card NPL ratio in 2025 was 1.74%, down 0.01 percentage points from 2024.

But overall retail loans still showed an upward trend in NPL ratios. For personal housing loans, a reporter noted that China Merchants Bank’s personal housing loan NPL ratio was 0.51%, up 0.03 percentage points from the end of the previous year; the special-mention loan ratio was 1.57%, up 0.29 percentage points from the end of the previous year; and the overdue loan ratio was 0.87%, up 0.06 percentage points from the end of the previous year.

China Merchants Bank said it has always adhered to regular monitoring and revaluation of the value of existing pledged collateral, and adjusts the value of pledged assets in a timely manner. As of the end of the reporting period, the weighted average collateralization ratio for personal housing loans was 40.59%, up 3.44 percentage points from the end of the previous year; collateral remained sufficient and stable, and overall risk in the personal housing loan business was controllable.

For micro and small loans, China Merchants Bank’s loans and advances balance was 873.559 billion yuan. The NPL ratio rose sharply from 0.79% to 1.22%, and the overdue loan ratio also rose from 0.97% to 1.43%.

However, China Merchants Bank’s corporate loan NPL ratio saw a significant decline, dropping from 1.01% in 2024 to 0.84% in 2025, which drove the bank’s overall NPL ratio down from 0.95% to 0.94%.

Cover image source: 每日经济新闻