Sou Hu Cai Jing·2025-05-08 01:17Core Insights - CITIC Bank reported a slight increase in revenue and net profit for 2024, with revenue growing by 3.76% and net profit by 2.33%, but these growth rates are at near historical lows [2][3] - The bank's net interest income increased by only 2.19%, and its net interest margin has declined for four consecutive years, reaching 1.77% [6][10] - Non-interest income accounted for 31.3% of total income, but fee income fell by 3.96%, indicating reliance on volatile investment income which grew by 13.3% [10][11] Group 1: Traditional Business Pressure - CITIC Bank's net profit growth has significantly slowed compared to previous years, with a drop from 7.91% in 2023 to 2.33% in 2024 [2][3] - The bank's net interest margin has consistently decreased from 2.26% in 2020 to 1.77% in 2024, ranking fourth among joint-stock banks [6][9] - The bank's interest income was reported at 146.68 billion yuan, with a slight increase attributed to a 4.03% growth in loan volume [10][11] Group 2: Investment as a Key Revenue Driver - To counteract the pressure on net interest margin, CITIC Bank increased its financial investment ratio from 23.5% in 2020 to 27.8% in 2024, with investment income now making up 49% of non-interest income [11][13] - Investment net income reached 29.27 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.3%, but cash flow from investment activities was negative at -29.53 billion yuan, indicating higher expenditures than returns [13][14] - The bank's reliance on investment income has led to increased volatility in earnings, with fair value changes showing a significant increase of 629.94% [13][14] Group 3: Accumulating Non-Performing Loan Risks - As of the end of 2024, CITIC Bank's non-performing loan balance rose to 66.485 billion yuan, an increase of 2.6% year-on-year [16][17] - The proportion of special mention loans increased to 1.64%, indicating potential risk accumulation [16][17] - The bank's real estate loan non-performing rate was reported at 2.21%, exceeding the industry average, with real estate loans making up 9.81% of total loans [17][18]