How will the six major state-owned banks perform in 2025? Bank of Communications has the lowest net interest margin, and Postal Savings Bank's non-performing loan ratio is rising.

The six state-owned “Big Six” banks’ 2025 annual reports are all out—how did they perform last year?

In 2025, the operating revenue of all six state-owned banks increased year over year. Among them, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is the only one whose revenue exceeded 800 billion yuan; Bank of China (601988) saw the highest growth rate among the big banks, at 4.48%. At the same time, the six state-owned big banks also achieved year-over-year growth in attributable net profit. Among them, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398) and China Construction Bank both exceeded 3 trillion yuan; Agricultural Bank had the highest growth rate at 3.18%.

It is worth noting that as of the end of 2025, the non-performing loan ratios of five state-owned big banks all declined. Only Postal Savings Bank increased by 0.05 percentage points from the end of the prior year to 0.95%, but its figure remained the lowest among the big banks. In addition, among the big banks, only Bank of Communications’ provision coverage ratio increased, while the other five saw declines to varying degrees.

Big banks see both revenue and net profit rise,

net interest income generally declines

In 2025, the operating revenue of all six state-owned big banks increased year over year. Of these, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s operating revenue was 838.70 billion yuan, up 2.0% year over year; Agricultural Bank of China (601288) posted operating revenue of 725.3 billion yuan, up 2.1%; Bank of China recorded operating revenue of 658.3 billion yuan for the full year, up 4.48%; China Construction Bank (601939) recorded operating revenue of 761.049 billion yuan for the full year, up 1.88%; Bank of Communications (601328) achieved operating revenue of 265.1 billion yuan, up 2.02%; Postal Savings Bank achieved operating revenue of 355.728 billion yuan, up 1.99%.

Judging by the growth rates, Bank of China had the highest increase in operating revenue last year, exceeding 4%; Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and Bank of Communications all had growth rates that did not reach 3%; China Construction Bank and Postal Savings Bank both were below 2%.

However, although the six big banks all achieved growth in operating revenue, their net interest income generally declined.

Among them, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s 2025 net interest income was 635.126 billion yuan, down 0.4%; Agricultural Bank’s net interest income was 569.594 billion yuan, down 11.098 billion yuan from the prior year; Bank of China’s net interest income was 440.705 billion yuan, down 8.229 billion yuan year over year, a decline of 1.83%; China Construction Bank’s net interest income was 572.774 billion yuan, down 17.108 billion yuan from the prior year, a decline of 2.90%; Postal Savings Bank’s net interest income was 281.620 billion yuan, down 1.57% year over year, with the decline narrowing. By comparison, Bank of Communications achieved net interest income of 173.075 billion yuan, up 3.243 billion yuan year over year, an increase of 1.91%.

At the 2025 results briefing, ICBC President Liu Jun said: “ICBC’s total profitability continues to remain among the top peers. In a macro environment, especially one in which the interest rate spread is gradually narrowing, achieving such a net growth target is subject to some difficulty. In terms of net interest income, ICBC continues to leverage its core income engine tied to operating revenue, and the social financing structure—dominated by indirect financing supported by the state—remains highly aligned.”

Regarding the target for growth in operating revenue in 2026, Bank of Communications Vice President Zhou Wanfu said that the operating income growth target set by Bank of Communications for 2026 is to be “higher than last year.” He stated: “First, we will strive to achieve stable growth in net interest income by maintaining a favorable trajectory in net interest margin, and by balancing quantity and price development. Second, we will achieve stable growth in fee and commission income through revenue growth via multiple channels. Third, we will optimize allocations and strengthen trading to achieve growth in other non-interest income. Another key variable is to maintain stable asset quality.”

By comparison, the six state-owned big banks all achieved year-over-year positive growth in net fee and commission income.

In 2025, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China recorded net fee and commission income of 111.171 billion yuan, up 1.774 billion yuan, a growth of 1.6%; Agricultural Bank recorded net fee and commission income of 88.085 billion yuan, up 12.518 billion yuan from the prior year, a growth of 16.6%; Bank of China recorded net fee and commission income of 82.237 billion yuan, up 5.647 billion yuan year over year, a growth of 7.37%; China Construction Bank recorded fee and commission net income of 110.307 billion yuan, up 5.379 billion yuan from the prior year, up 5.13%; Bank of Communications recorded net fee and commission income of 38.183 billion yuan, up 1.269 billion yuan year over year, up 3.44%; Postal Savings Bank recorded net fee and commission income of 29.365 billion yuan, up 16.15% year over year.

Meanwhile, all six state-owned big banks also achieved growth in attributable net profit last year. Among them, ICBC ranked first, with attributable net profit of 368.562 billion yuan; China Construction Bank also exceeded 300 billion yuan, at 338.906 billion yuan. In addition, in terms of growth rate, Agricultural Bank had the highest growth rate in attributable net profit among the big banks, at 3.18%.

Five big banks’ non-performing loan ratios decline,

Postal Savings Bank rises to 0.95%

In terms of asset size, as of the end of 2025, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is the only big bank with total assets exceeding 5.3 trillion yuan; Agricultural Bank and China Construction Bank both have asset sizes exceeding 4.5 trillion yuan; Bank of China exceeds 3.8 trillion yuan; Postal Savings Bank is 1.868 trillion yuan; and Bank of Communications is 1.555 trillion yuan.

Regarding last year’s performance in asset scale, Liu Jun said that in 2025, ICBC became the world’s first bank to cross the 5 trillion yuan mark. He pointed out that ICBC did not relax its pursuit of efficiency and quality due to its large size; therefore, in 2025, ICBC still followed a trend of improving results along the broad path of building a financial development road with Chinese characteristics.

At the results briefing, Bank of Communications President Zhang Baojiang said: “Over the past five years, Bank of Communications’ business scale has steadily increased. The group’s total asset balance increased from 1 trillion to the current 1.555 trillion yuan. Going forward, Bank of Communications will, as always, do a good job in operational management, continuously improve value, and return broad investors with more stable performance and sustained stable dividends.”

In addition, in terms of asset quality performance, as of the end of last year, the non-performing loan ratios of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of Communications all declined.

By comparison, Postal Savings Bank’s non-performing loan ratio rose, increasing by 0.05 percentage points to 0.95%. Meanwhile, its annual report shows that as of the end of 2025, its loans under watch list totaled 151.648 billion yuan, up 67.320 billion yuan from the end of the prior year; loans under watch list accounted for 1.57%, up 0.62 percentage points from the end of the prior year; the combined share of watch-listed and non-performing loans was 2.52%, up 0.67 percentage points from the end of the prior year.

In addition, as of the end of last year, the provision coverage ratios of all six big banks were not above 300%. Among them, only Bank of Communications rose by 6.44 percentage points from the end of the prior year; the other big banks saw declines to varying degrees from the end of the prior year, among which Postal Savings Bank fell by more than 58 percentage points to 227.94%.

It is worth noting that at the results briefing, several bank executives mentioned the pressure in personal loans. Postal Savings Bank Vice President Yao Hong said directly: “Personal loans are indeed our main point of pressure on asset quality. Our non-performing loan ratio is 1.42%. Our personal loan share is high, accounting for 50.2% of all loans. Affected by the credit structure, in 2025 our ‘three ratios’ for non-performing, watch-listed, and overdue loans all increased year over year, by 0.05, 0.62, and 0.11 percentage points respectively. Among them, the watch-listed ratio rose by the largest margin. This is mainly because we launched targeted hardship relief and extended renewals for customers whose repayment willingness is good but who face temporary difficulties. At the same time, we have also prudently classified these loans as watch-listed.”

Bank of China Vice President Wu Jian also said: “Consumer loan business will still face some pressure against the backdrop of macroeconomic cycles and employment structure adjustments.”

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Vice President Wang Jingwu said that the pressure on asset quality management and control for inclusive and personal loans has increased, which is a common feature across the entire industry at present. However, ICBC has always insisted on guarding the bottom line and actively and prudently preventing, controlling, and resolving risks. Currently, the overall credit risk of these two major segments is controllable, and provision extraction is also sufficient.

Bank of Communications Vice President Qian Bin pointed out that since 2025, due to factors such as the macroeconomic environment and the downturn in the real estate market, the asset quality of retail loan portfolios faced substantial downward pressure, and Bank of Communications’ situation is consistent with the industry overall. Non-performing consumer loans have risen somewhat, but these two product categories have relatively short terms, and combined with the external market environment, this has led to asset quality pressure in both consumer loans and business loans, though overall risk remains controllable.

In addition, China Construction Bank Vice President Li Jianjiang said: “Risk control in the retail sector remains the focus of our work. We believe that as China Construction Bank’s various management mechanisms and risk-control initiatives are further implemented in depth and detail, we have the confidence that the asset quality of credit in the retail sector can remain stable.”

Big banks’ net interest margin continues to decline,

BoCom falls to 1.2%

In 2025, the net interest margin (net interest yield) of the six state-owned big banks “declined across the board.” Among them, Postal Savings Bank had the highest net interest margin at 1.66%; next was China Construction Bank at 1.34%; the other big banks were all below 1.3%, with Bank of Communications lowest at 1.2%.

Regarding the reasons for the decline in net interest margin, ICBC explained in its 2025 annual report that due to factors such as the downward adjustment in loan market quoted rates (LPR) and changes in the deposit maturity structure, the net interest spread and net interest yield declined.

China Construction Bank, in its 2025 annual report, stated that in 2025, the group closely monitored changes in the market, and continued to take measures across multiple aspects, including adjusting the asset-liability structure and strengthening pricing management, to strive to keep the net interest margin at a reasonable level. Affected by multiple factors, including the LPR rate cut and market rates running at low levels, the asset-side yield was lower than last year; affected by asymmetric rate cuts and the lag in deposit interest rate cuts relative to loan rates, as well as structural changes, the liability-side interest-bearing rate decline was smaller than the asset-side yield decline, and the net interest yield declined to 1.34%.

In its annual report, Bank of China said that it was mainly affected by the downward adjustment in the loan market quoted rate (LPR) for onshore RMB loans and the decline in foreign currency market rates, leading to a year-over-year decrease in the average yield on interest-earning assets of 49 basis points.

Agricultural Bank said that it was mainly due to factors such as the LPR cut and market rates running at low levels, which led to a decline in the yield on interest-earning assets.

Bank of Communications, in its annual report, explained that the decline in net interest margin was mainly due to a larger decline in the asset-side yield. Influenced by factors including the adjustment and reduction of LPR and fierce industry competition under conditions of strong supply and weak demand, the customer loan yield declined by 58 basis points year over year; at the same time, the overall downward shift of the market interest rate center reduced securities investment yields by 25 basis points. To cope with pressure from lower asset yields, the group has continuously strengthened research and judgment on market interest rate trends, reasonably adjusted its business structure, dynamically optimized pricing strategies, and reduced the cost of liabilities year over year.

When discussing the future performance of net interest margin, Bank of China Vice President Liu Chenggang said: “Looking ahead to 2026, we expect the group’s net interest margin year-over-year decline will narrow significantly, and net interest income is expected to achieve positive growth.”

At the results briefing, Zhou Wanfu said that net interest margin management is a key issue for commercial banks to achieve sustained and stable development and performance improvement. Since last year, through efforts across multiple aspects, Bank of Communications has achieved largely stable conditions. Looking forward to the full year, the net interest margin can be kept stable and on a positive trajectory.

(Editor: Cao Yanyan HA008)

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