On the evening of April 12, the four major state-owned banks, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank, collectively issued an announcement to disclose the increase in the shares of the Bank by the controlling shareholder Central Huijin Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Huijin Company"). According to the announcement, from October 11 last year to April 10 this year, Huijin Company increased its holdings of 401 million shares, 330 million shares, 287 million shares and 71.45 million A shares of Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank respectively, totaling more than 1 billion shares. All four banks said that Huijin will continue to support its long-term steady development.
According to the ICBC announcement, as of April 10, 2024, Huijin Company has increased its holdings of ICBC A shares by 287 million shares through the Shanghai Stock Exchange trading system, accounting for about 0.08% of the bank's total share capital; Huijin holds a total of 124.005 billion A shares of ICBC, accounting for about 34.79% of the bank's total share capital.
According to the announcement of the Agricultural Bank of China, as of April 10, Huijin Company had increased its holdings of 401 million A shares of the bank through the trading system of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, accounting for about 0.11% of the bank's total share capital; Huijin holds a total of 140.489 billion A shares of the bank, accounting for about 40.14% of the bank's total share capital.
According to the announcement of the Bank of China, as of April 10, Huijin Company had increased its holdings of 330 million A shares of the bank through the trading system of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, accounting for about 0.11% of the bank's total share capital, and Huijin held a total of 188.792 billion A shares of the bank, accounting for about 64.13% of the bank's total share capital.
According to the announcement of CCB, as of April 10, Huijin Company had increased its holdings of 71.451 million A shares of the bank through the trading system of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, accounting for about 0.03% of the total share capital of the bank, and Huijin held a total of 142.858 billion shares of the bank (including 267 million A shares and 142.59 billion H shares), accounting for about 57.14% of the total share capital of the bank.
Previously, Huijin Company had increased its holdings of 27.612 million shares, 37.2722 million shares, 24.8879 million shares, and 18.38 million shares of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, and China Construction Bank through the Shanghai Stock Exchange trading system on October 11, 2023. Huijin said that it would continue to increase its holdings in the secondary market in its own name within six months from the date of the increase.
As of the close of trading on April 12, except for ICBC's A-share shares, which were flat, the A-shares of the other three major state-owned banks all rose. At present, the price-to-earnings ratio of A-shares of the four major banks does not exceed 5.70, and the price-to-book ratio is around 0.60.
According to the 2023 annual report, among the four banks, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China both achieved growth in operating income and net profit attributable to the parent company in 2023, with Bank of China's operating income growing the highest year-on-year of 6.41%, and Agricultural Bank of China's net profit attributable to the parent company having the highest year-on-year growth rate of 3.9%. In 2023, ICBC and CCB will achieve operating income of 843.070 billion yuan and 769.736 billion yuan respectively, and net profit attributable to the parent company of 363.993 billion yuan and 332.653 billion yuan respectively.
According to the official website, Huijin was established in December 2003 and is headquartered in Beijing, which exercises its rights and obligations to investors of key financial enterprises such as state-owned commercial banks on behalf of the state in accordance with the law. In accordance with the authorization of the State Council, Huijin Company makes equity investments in key state-owned financial enterprises, and exercises the rights and obligations of investors on behalf of the state in accordance with the law on behalf of the state to the extent of the amount of capital contribution, so as to maintain and increase the value of state-owned financial assets. Huijin Company does not carry out any other commercial business activities and does not interfere in the daily business activities of key state-owned financial enterprises controlled by Huijin.
As of June 30, 2023, Huijin directly held equity interests in 19 financial institutions, including China Development Bank, China Everbright Group, China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation, China Reinsurance (Group) Co., Ltd., China Jianyin Investment Co., Ltd., China Galaxy Financial Holdings Co., Ltd., Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co., Ltd., New China Life Insurance Co., Ltd., China International Capital Corporation Limited, Zhonghui Life Insurance Co., Ltd., Hengfeng Bank Co., Ltd., Bank of Hunan Co., Ltd., China Securities Co., Ltd., China Galaxy Asset Management Co., Ltd., Guotai Junan Investment Management Co., Ltd.
Industry insiders believe that the increase in Huijin Company's holdings reveals the regulator's firm confidence in the capital market and bank fundamentals, and also shows that the state level cares for the capital market, which is conducive to the stability of market confidence and the return of the investment value of bank stocks.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Cheng Jie
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