Ping An Bank was accused of "reducing the salary of all employees", with an average salary of 480,000 yuan last year

Southern Metropolis Daily

2024-05-11 12:19Published on the official account of Guangdong Southern Metropolis Daily

The "tight days" for banks may have crept in. Yesterday, the news of Ping An Bank's "salary cut for all employees" attracted attention, and a number of Ping An Bank employees told the media that they and their departments had different degrees of "discounts" in their monthly performance bonuses, ranging from 9% to zero, and the scope was widespread.

In response to this matter, the reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Society asked the head office of Ping An Bank for verification, but has not received a response for the time being. According to some employees of Ping An Bank, "the human resources department has different explanations for this performance discount, but on the whole, it affects all employees, and the core reason is that the overall bonus shrinkage caused by poor performance in the first quarter." "At the beginning of this year, an employee of Ping An Bank revealed the news of the discount of the year-end bonus to the reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Society.

Ping An Bank's performance shows that in the first quarter of 2024, it achieved operating income of 38.770 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 14.0%. The net profit was 14.932 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%, and it continued to maintain "increasing profits without increasing revenue". As for the reasons for the decline in revenue, Ping An Bank said that it was mainly affected by factors such as continuous concessions to the real economy and adjustment of asset structure. In addition, Ping An Bank's net interest margin in the first quarter of 2024 was 2.01%, down 62 basis points from the same period last year.

Everything was foreshadowed. The reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Society noticed that at the 2023 performance conference of Ping An Bank in mid-March this year, President Ji Guangheng repeatedly mentioned reducing costs and increasing efficiency, and making careful calculations, emphasizing the need to "closely focus on full-caliber profits and per capita yields" and calculate the general ledger. When it comes to cost reduction, he bluntly said that some offices used to like to put out flowers, and suggested "is it possible to put potted plants".

In fact, "living a tight life" has become a bellwether in the banking circle. According to the 2023 annual report data released by listed banks, from the perspective of banks with higher per capita salaries, Zheshang Bank is 584,100 yuan, China Merchants Bank is 582,600 yuan, Industrial Bank is 558,100 yuan, Minsheng Bank is 509,000 yuan, and Ping An Bank is 480,100 yuan, but the average salary of many of the above banks has decreased compared with 2022, of which Ping An Bank has decreased by 43,500 yuan and China CITIC Bank has decreased by 38,600 yuan.

Coincidentally, another Shenzhen-based bank has taken a similar stance.

"This year, in accordance with the requirements of the board of directors to live a tight and strict life, we will reduce various costs and expenses, and promote revenue growth by reducing costs and increasing efficiency." At the 2023 annual results conference of China Merchants Bank in March this year, Wang Liang, president of China Merchants Bank, said this in the face of questions about the current operating pressure of the banking industry. It is worth noting that China Merchants Bank's operating income in 2023 will show negative growth for the first time in 14 years. Wang Liang also said frankly that the operating pressure in the first quarter of this year not only did not improve compared with last year, but showed a trend of further increase.

Yesterday, some city commercial bank executives also admitted to the reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Society that they may raise salaries in the second half of the year, and there is no action at present, but it is said that the plan has been done. Time back to the eve of this year's Spring Festival. The reporter noticed that related topics such as Shanghai Pudong Development Bank's "family letter worth 10,000 dollars" and the bank's deduction of holiday fees also became hot searches for a time.

"From the legal level, there is no obligation for enterprises to issue year-end bonuses." A lawyer from a law firm told a reporter from Nandu Bay Finance Society that the year-end bonus is a reward given to employees by enterprises in combination with their own production and operation conditions. For normal wages, if the unit involved does only pay 30%-60% of the salary, it is also an act of non-payment of wages. According to the analysis of some industry experts, the banking industry as a whole will be under pressure in 2023, and 2024 will still be a year of opportunities and challenges for the banking industry.

Written by: Lu Liang, reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Agency

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