On the evening of April 29, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of China released their results for the first quarter of 2024. From the perspective of core performance such as revenue and net profit, in the first quarter of this year, the three major state-owned banks all declined to varying degrees.
However, in the first quarter of this year, the three banks continued to play the role of state-owned banks as the main force in the process of serving the real economy, and technology finance became the accelerated layout of the major banks.
Core performance indicators declined
According to the A-share financial reports of various banks, in the first quarter of this year, the net profit attributable to the parent of ABC was 70.386 billion yuan, down 1.63% year-on-year, and the operating income was 186.021 billion yuan, down 1.76% year-on-year, of which the net interest income was 144.535 billion yuan, and the net income from fees and commissions was 29.037 billion yuan.
The net profit attributable to shareholders of CCB was RMB86.817 billion, down 2.17% year-on-year, operating income was RMB200.928 billion, down 2.97% year-on-year, of which net interest income was RMB149.731 billion, down 2.19% year-on-year, and net fee and commission income was RMB39.278 billion, down 8.69% year-on-year.
The net profit attributable to the parent company of Bank of China was 55.989 billion yuan, down 2.9% year-on-year, and the operating income was 160.818 billion yuan, down 3.01% year-on-year, of which the net interest income was 112.712 billion yuan, down 4.622 billion yuan or 3.94% year-on-year.
The service is new and the productivity is accelerated
However, in the first quarter of this year, the three banks continued to play the role of state-owned banks as the main force in serving the real economy, focusing on major strategies, key areas and weak links of the real economy, and coordinating the investment of financial resources to help the economy rebound.
Specifically, as of the end of the first quarter, the total loans of the Agricultural Bank of China were 23.9 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.2 trillion yuan or 5.5 percent from the beginning of the year, the balance of personal loans was 8.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 542.8 billion yuan, and the balance of corporate loans was 14.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.4 trillion yuan.
The total amount of loans and advances issued by China Construction Bank increased by 1.17 trillion yuan from the end of the previous year, and the RMB loans of the Bank of China increased by 0.88 trillion yuan or 5.25 percent from the end of the previous year.
From the perspective of loan investment, in the first quarter of this year, the three major banks focused on the "five major articles" of finance to carry out business. Among them, science and technology finance, as the first of the "five major articles" of finance, has become a key area of major banks.
The Agricultural Bank of China said that in the first quarter, science and technology finance accelerated its efforts. The balance of manufacturing loans exceeded 3.3 trillion yuan, an increase of 373.7 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 12.7%. The balance of medium and long-term loans in the manufacturing industry exceeded 1.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 239.4 billion yuan. The balance of loans for strategic emerging industries was 2.7 trillion yuan, with an increase of more than 600 billion yuan.
CCB said that it will provide diversified, relay and all-round comprehensive financial services for technology-based enterprises through a sound service and support system. As of the end of the first quarter of this year, the balance of loans for strategic emerging industries reached 2.68 trillion yuan, and the balance of science and technology loans reached 1.80 trillion yuan, both of which achieved rapid growth.
The Bank of China pointed out that it will support the development of new quality productivity in an all-round way. As of the end of March, there were nearly 28,000 national and provincial "specialized, special and new" enterprise customers, with a loan balance of more than 420 billion yuan. Loans to small and medium-sized technology-based enterprises increased by 28.1 billion yuan, an increase of 10.75% from the beginning of the year.
Consolidation and development of characteristic businesses
On this basis, the characteristic businesses and comparative advantages of the major banks have also developed rapidly.
For example, by the end of the first quarter, the county-level loans of the Agricultural Bank of China had exceeded 9 trillion yuan. The balance of county-level loans reached 9.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 622.7 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 7.1%, 1.6 percentage points higher than that of the whole bank, and the balance accounted for 40.1% of domestic loans.
The balance of agriculture-related loans was 7.20 trillion yuan, an increase of 646.9 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 9.9 percent, 4.4 percentage points higher than that of the whole bank, and the balance accounted for 30.8 percent of domestic loans. Among them, the balance of loans in areas related to the guarantee of supply of grain and important agricultural products was 997.1 billion yuan, an increase of 152.6 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 18.1%, 12.6 percentage points higher than that of the whole bank.
Gu Shu, chairman and executive director of the Agricultural Bank of China, said at the 2023 annual results conference that in the county-level loan growth plan of the Agricultural Bank of China this year, loans to food security and rural households will be very crucial.
"When it comes to counties, we must first talk about ensuring the supply of grain and important agricultural products," Gu Shu pointed out, adding that this year, the Agricultural Bank of China's loan plan for food security will increase by more than 200 billion yuan, and the balance will exceed 1 trillion yuan. At the same time, Gu Shu stressed that the credit delivery of the Agricultural Bank of China should further demonstrate the true character of the "Three Rurals", and the stable increase of rural household loans is very important to stabilize the basic business of the personal loan business of the Agricultural Bank.
Bank of China said that in the first quarter of this year, the characteristics of globalization and integration were consolidated again. The comprehensive financial service capability of "one-point access, global response" continues to increase. The advantages of globalization have been further enhanced. Fully serve the cross-border debt capital market, and take the lead in assisting the New Development Bank in the issuance of 6 billion yuan and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in the issuance of 3 billion yuan of panda bonds. Deeply involved in the construction of cross-border RMB infrastructure, and maintained the first place in cross-border RMB settlement volume and clearing volume.
The role of ballast stone is prominent
In addition to serving the main force of the real economy, the role of state-owned financial institutions is also the ballast stone for maintaining financial stability.
In terms of asset quality and risk compensation capacity, the NPL ratios of Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank as of the first quarter all decreased from the beginning of the year to 1.32%, 1.24% and 1.36%, respectively, down 0.01 percentage points, 0.03 percentage points and 0.01 percentage points from the beginning of the year.
In terms of risk offset, the Agricultural Bank of China said that the loan provision coverage ratio was 303.22%, and the asset provision continued to increase year by year, with a total amount of more than one trillion yuan, and the risk offset capacity remained at a strong level. Bank of China pointed out that the provision coverage ratio of non-performing loans was 199.94%, an increase of 8.28 percentage points from the beginning of the year.
CCB pointed out that in the first quarter, it strengthened the risk management of key industries, key regions and key products such as real estate and local debt, continued to increase the intensity of non-performing disposal, and attached great importance to various risks hidden in emerging fields. Strengthen refined management and control, comprehensively promote cost management, continue to strengthen data governance, ensure data security, and generally control various risks.
Editor-in-charge: Wang Lulu
Proofreading: Gao Yuan