常熟银行：业绩增速仍高，风险抵补能力优秀

Investment Rating - The investment rating for the company is "Accumulate" (maintained) [1] Core Views - The company has shown high growth in performance while maintaining excellent risk compensation capabilities [1][4] - The company focuses on inclusive finance for small and micro enterprises, demonstrating differentiated competitive advantages [4] Financial Performance - For the first three quarters of 2024, the company achieved revenue of 8.37 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.3%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.976 billion yuan, up 18.2% year-on-year [3][4] - Interest income remained stable, with a slight decrease in the growth rate of interest-earning assets contributing 14.2 percentage points to performance, down 1.4 percentage points from the first half of 2024 [3] - The net interest margin for the first three quarters of 2024 was 2.75%, a decrease of 4 basis points compared to the first half of 2024 [3][4] Asset Quality - As of the end of the third quarter of 2024, the non-performing loan ratio was 0.77%, and the attention ratio was 1.52%, reflecting a slight increase due to economic pressures affecting micro-loan asset quality [4] - The provision coverage ratio stood at 528%, indicating sufficient risk compensation capability [4] Future Outlook - The company is expected to see net profit growth of 17.9%, 16.5%, and 16.1% for the years 2024 to 2026, with corresponding price-to-book (PB) ratios of 0.78, 0.70, and 0.63 [4][5] - The company anticipates continued support for credit issuance as policies remain favorable [4]