ZHONGTAI SECURITIES·2026-01-07 11:17Investment Rating - The report maintains an "Overweight" rating for the banking sector [2] Core Insights - The four categories of retail loans (mortgages, credit cards, consumer loans, and business loans) collectively constitute household liabilities, each with distinct collateral types, duration structures, and policy influences. The report aims to establish a risk framework for these retail assets and assess their impact on banking operations in the future [2][4] - Under stress testing, the non-performing loan (NPL) ratios for mortgages, credit cards, and consumer loans are projected to increase by 11, 12, and 20 basis points respectively in 2026, while the growth in non-performing amounts remains manageable. The overall quality of corporate assets is expected to continue improving, indicating a stable banking sector [2][4] - Retail asset risks are deemed controllable, with policies expected to maintain stability in the near term [2] Summary by Sections Retail Asset Analysis Framework: Collateral Types + Duration Structure + Policy Impact - The overall NPL ratio for retail loans of listed banks is estimated at 1.27% in the first half of 2025, slightly above the corporate NPL ratio of 1.26%, but the increase in NPL ratios is stabilizing. The composition of existing NPLs is 63% corporate and 37% retail, with business loans and mortgages showing higher proportions of both existing and newly added NPLs [2][12] - The report establishes a risk analysis framework for retail assets, highlighting the differences in collateral types, duration structures, and policy impacts among the four categories of retail loans [2][4] Consumer Loans: "High-Risk" Assets - The relationship between consumer loans and consumption trends is closely aligned, with notable deviations occurring during strict property purchase restrictions and regulatory cycles for online loans. The market structure for consumer credit (excluding credit cards and mortgages) shows that listed banks hold over 51.5% of the market, while non-listed banks account for 17% and other players for 31% [2][4] - The risk logic for consumer credit indicates that risk pricing is primarily determined by interest rates, which can be categorized into four tiers based on risk levels. The report estimates that 4.4% of consumer loans fall into the "high-risk" category, with commercial banks' high-risk consumer loans representing only 0.6% of their total consumer loans [2][4] Mortgage Loans: Risk Sources and International Comparisons - The primary sources of mortgage risk include negative cash flow and high loan-to-value (LTV) ratios, with 1.2% of respondents reporting monthly incomes below their mortgage payments. The report anticipates that the current high LTV portion, which constitutes 2.9% of total mortgage balances, will not necessarily lead to increased NPLs [2][4] - International comparisons indicate that mortgage NPL ratios in most countries remain below 2%, suggesting that the risks in the domestic market are manageable [2][4] Business Loans: High-Risk Assets - The report estimates that approximately 2 trillion yuan of high-risk business loans were outstanding at the end of 2021, with nearly one-third of these high-risk assets already exposed. The peak of risk exposure is expected in 2024 and the first half of 2025, with NPL ratios projected to rise by 18 basis points to 1.96% under stress testing conditions [2][4] Credit Cards: Early NPL Exposure - Credit cards have historically shown early exposure to NPLs, with the NPL ratio at 2.44% in the first half of 2025. The report notes that the net increase in credit card NPLs has significantly decreased, indicating that credit cards are not currently a major pressure point for banks [2][4] Investment Recommendations - The report suggests two main investment lines for bank stocks: focusing on regional banks with strong certainty and advantages, particularly in areas like Jiangsu, Shanghai, Chengdu, Shandong, and Fujian, and recommending large banks with high dividend yields such as Agricultural Bank, Construction Bank, and Industrial and Commercial Bank [2][4]