Hitting the earnings conference | Development targets, strategic reforms, dividends?? Key focus areas for Ping An Bank's "2025 Annual Earnings Release Conference"

On March 23, Ping An Bank (000001.SZ, stock price 10.45 yuan, market value 202.8 billion yuan) held the “2025 Annual Performance Release Conference.” Ping An Bank’s President Ji Guangheng, CFO Xiang Youzhi, Chief Compliance Officer Wu Leiming, Vice President Fang Wehao, Assistant President Wang Jun, and Board Secretary Zhou Qiang addressed key market concerns.

In his opening speech, Ji Guangheng noted that 2025 is an extraordinary year. The external environment remains complex and severe, and domestic development faces many challenges. Despite this, China’s economy demonstrates strong resilience, with stable progress and overall development moving towards new and better directions. This year, Ping An Bank has endured the hardships of transformation, withstanding operational pressures, adopting a more pragmatic approach, and progressing steadily to lay a solid foundation for high-quality future development.

On Development Goals: Strive to Achieve a Return to Growth

Ji Guangheng pointed out that, industry-wide, the banking sector is entering a cycle of low interest rates, narrow interest spreads, and low yields, facing challenges such as insufficient effective credit demand, risk prevention pressures, and shrinking profit margins. However, thanks to coordinated macro policies, steady development of new productive forces, continuous expansion of emerging markets, economic growth, and optimized driving forces, along with ongoing digital transformation and AI advancements, the financial industry’s operating models and service ecosystems are being fundamentally reshaped, injecting strong momentum into transformation.

“2025 will be a challenging year for Ping An Bank, but also a year to solidify the foundation for future development,” Ji Guangheng stated frankly. “In 2026, we aim to fully return to growth.”

It is understood that Ping An Bank will address some retention issues and, based on industry and its own characteristics, develop new growth drivers.

“2025 has been a year of highlights for Ping An Bank’s business operations,” Ji Guangheng pointed out. First, asset structure adjustments and optimization are underway, with retail income gradually increasing, corporate loans maintaining high growth, and efforts to serve the real economy intensified. Total assets grew by 2.7% from the end of the previous year, corporate loan balances increased by 3.5%, and loans to tech companies and green finance sectors saw good growth. Second, management levels continue to improve, proactively optimizing interest costs, with the average interest rate on general deposits decreasing by 42 basis points to 1.65%. Third, asset quality continues to improve, with strong risk resistance. Fourth, comprehensive refined management is strengthened to enhance quality and efficiency, support strategic and key business investments, reduce fixed and operational expenses, and improve overall accounting standards across branches.

According to annual reports, in 2025, Ping An Bank’s operating income and net profit attributable to shareholders decreased by 10.4% and 4.2%, respectively. The decline in operating income narrowed by 0.5 percentage points year-over-year, while net profit decline remained flat.

On Strategic Reform: Maintain Strategic Focus, No Need for Constant Innovation

“At the beginning of this year, during an internal meeting, we emphasized maintaining strategic focus. We cannot keep changing strategies every year; instead, we must persevere, build a solid foundation step by step, and continually review what we’ve done right and what needs improvement,” Ji Guangheng said. Regarding strategic approaches, he noted that over the past two and a half years of reform, Ping An Bank has accurately grasped macroeconomic trends and adjusted strategies in a timely manner. Building on the strengths of retail expansion, corporate refinement, and specialized interbank operations, the bank unified its thinking, focusing on business, performance management, and internal governance to achieve a phased breakthrough in retail.

Specifically, in various business and management areas: First, retail business has basically bottomed out with early signs of recovery. By the end of 2025, retail customers numbered 127.9 million, a 1.9% increase from the previous year; retail assets under management (AUM) reached 42.38 trillion yuan, up 1.1%. Second, corporate business developed in coordination, with steady improvements. Corporate deposits totaled 2.295 trillion yuan, up 2.2%; corporate loans reached 1.663 trillion yuan, up 3.5%. Third, asset quality management efforts intensified, with effective restructuring of risk management systems and increased independence. High-risk retail assets were largely cleared, corporate asset quality remained good, non-performing loans were actively recovered, credit risk costs significantly reduced, and industry collaboration mechanisms were upgraded. Fourth, refined management was strengthened to improve quality and efficiency, support strategic and key business investments, reduce operational costs, and enhance overall branch accounting standards.

On Dividend Policy: Strive to Create More Value for Investors

Ping An Bank’s 2025 profit distribution plan proposes a dividend of 5.96 yuan per 10 shares, totaling 11.566 billion yuan in cash dividends.

Regarding why the total cash dividend is less than 30% of net profit for the year, the bank explained that it considers industry challenges and its own operational needs. On one hand, commercial banks face narrowing interest margins and insufficient effective credit demand, so increasing internal capital accumulation helps improve risk resistance. On the other hand, regulators require higher capital adequacy levels; by the end of 2025, the bank’s group’s core Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio was 9.36%, necessitating capital reserves to meet regulatory reforms. Additionally, to ensure steady business development, deepen strategic transformation, and enhance service to the real economy, sufficient capital support is needed.

Ping An Bank stated that this profit distribution plan complies with corporate articles and shareholder return policies, balancing industry characteristics, development stage, profitability, and overall shareholder returns. Undistributed profits will be used to strengthen capital, support business growth, and implement strategies. The bank will continue to adhere to the strategy of “strengthening retail, refining corporate, and specializing interbank,” enhance risk management, promote high-quality sustainable growth, and continuously create investment returns for shareholders.

Regarding dividends, Ji Guangheng said that Ping An Bank has always prioritized shareholder interests and plans to maintain a reasonable dividend payout ratio this year to create more value for investors.

On Real Estate Risks: Trends Are Improving

Ping An Bank disclosed real estate risk management data in its 2025 annual report. As of the end of 2025, the total balance of credit, self-operated bonds, and self-operated non-standard investments related to real estate that bear credit risk was 251.357 billion yuan, a decrease of 2.198 billion yuan from the previous year; the balance of wealth management funds, entrusted loans, managed trust and fund sales, and underwritten debt financing instruments not bearing credit risk totaled 70.361 billion yuan, down 5.518 billion yuan.

“From the perspective of corporate real estate risk, both overdue and newly non-performing loans decreased last year,” Wu Leiming stated at the meeting. “The trend this year is also improving.”

Cover image source: Song Qinzhuang

(Edited by: Cao Yanyan HA008)

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