齐鲁银行：资产质量持续向好，分红比例提升至28%-20250427

Investment Rating - The investment rating for Qilu Bank is "Buy" (maintained) [6] Core Views - Qilu Bank reported a revenue of 12.5 billion yuan in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 4.55%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 5 billion yuan, up 17.77% year-on-year. For Q1 2025, revenue reached 3.2 billion yuan, growing 4.72% year-on-year, with a net profit of 1.4 billion yuan, an increase of 16.47% year-on-year [1][10] - The bank's asset quality continues to improve, with a non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 1.17% and a provision coverage ratio of 324.06% as of Q1 2025, showing a decrease of 2 basis points and an increase of 1.7 percentage points respectively compared to the end of the previous year [1][4] Performance Summary - In Q1 2025, net interest income grew by 7.89% year-on-year, with a narrowing decline in net interest margin, which was 1.51% in 2024, down 3 basis points from the second half of 2024. The decline in interest margin is attributed to significant improvements in the cost of liabilities [2] - Fee and commission income increased by 8.62% year-on-year, while other non-interest income decreased by 13.96% year-on-year, influenced by market fluctuations [3] - The bank's total assets and loans reached 716.4 billion yuan and 357.7 billion yuan respectively by the end of Q1 2025, representing year-on-year growth of 14.65% and 12.60% [5][10] Asset Quality - The NPL generation rate further declined in Q1 2025, with the NPL ratio at 1.17% and the attention ratio at 1.03%, indicating ongoing improvement in asset quality [4] - The NPL ratio for corporate loans decreased significantly, while personal loan NPLs saw a slight increase due to macroeconomic pressures [4] Financial Metrics - The bank's dividend payout ratio increased to 27.62% in 2024 from 26.73% in 2023, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders [1] - The projected earnings per share (EPS) for 2025 is 1.19 yuan, with a net profit growth forecast of 15.83% [11][12]