
Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Buy" rating for the company with a target price of 4.75 RMB [8][10]. Core Insights - The company's net profit and operating income for 2024 are expected to grow by 2.2% and decline by 7.0% year-on-year, respectively, which is slightly better than previous expectations [1][5]. - The company has shown improvements in asset quality, with a non-performing loan ratio of 1.25% and a provision coverage ratio of 181% as of the end of 2024 [4]. - The report highlights a stable net interest margin of 1.54% for 2024, with a slight improvement in the cost of interest-bearing liabilities [2][3]. Summary by Sections Financial Performance - For 2024, the company is projected to have total assets, loans, and deposits growing by 2.7%, 3.9%, and declining by 1.4%, respectively [2]. - Non-interest income is expected to increase by 1.4% year-on-year, with a notable rise in other non-interest income by 35.6% [3]. - The cost-to-income ratio is projected to rise by 1.6 percentage points to 29.8% [3]. Asset Quality - The non-performing loan rate is stable at 1.25%, while the coverage ratio has improved by 10 percentage points [4]. - The report indicates a decrease in the personal loan non-performing rate to 1.40% [4]. Valuation and Forecast - The company is projected to achieve a net profit of 41.7 billion RMB in 2024, with a slight increase in the forecast for 2025 and 2026 [5][29]. - The target price of 4.75 RMB corresponds to a price-to-book ratio of 0.55 for 2025, reflecting an expected valuation premium due to improved asset quality [5][10].