Industrial Bank's revenue is supported by non-interest income; its executives detail their "maneuvering skills" under net interest margin pressure and will continue to strengthen technology and green finance.

Financial Associated Press, March 27 (Reporter Liang Kezhi) Today, Industrial Bank held its 2025 annual performance press conference in Shanghai. The management stated that in the face of an industry environment characterized by “low interest rates, low spreads, high risks, and strong regulation,” the bank has sought progress while maintaining stability, achieving a rebound in operating performance for the year and successfully emerging from the “smile curve.”

Data shows that Industrial Bank achieved an operating income growth of 0.24% year-on-year and a net profit growth of 0.34% year-on-year, further expanding the increase compared to the first three quarters, maintaining positive growth for two consecutive years.

Chairman of Industrial Bank, Lv Jiajin, stated at the press conference that last year, the bank fully served the real economy, and its assets achieved steady growth. Overall, the business results were better than expected, outperforming the market.

Net interest margin maintained at 1.71%, non-interest income achieved positive growth

In 2025, Industrial Bank’s net interest income grew by 0.44% year-on-year, achieving positive growth for three consecutive years, mainly due to reasonable growth in interest-earning assets and effective reduction in funding costs. Total deposits reached 5.93 trillion yuan, an increase of 397.3 billion yuan compared to the beginning of the year, with retail deposits exceeding 1.8 trillion yuan and an increase in the proportion of low-cost transactional deposits, leading to a significant reduction in funding costs.

Specifically, the interest rate on deposits decreased by 33 basis points compared to the same period last year, while the interest rate on interbank deposits dropped by 59 basis points, resulting in a final net interest margin of 1.71%.

In addition, non-interest income became a source of support for Industrial Bank’s revenue last year. The net income from fees and commissions grew by 7.45% year-on-year, with wealth sales and custody business revenues increasing by 3.49% and 5.35%, respectively; other non-interest income steadily increased its share to 18%, rising by 7 percentage points over the past five years.

At the press conference, a relevant person from Industrial Bank stated that last year, the focus was on strengthening the group’s synergy in “large investment banking, large asset management, and large wealth management,” achieving a rebound in mid-income sources such as fees.

Asset quality improves, key risk exposures continue to decrease

In terms of risk prevention and control, Industrial Bank’s risk costs fell from a high level in 2025, with impairment provisions decreasing by 4.26% year-on-year, and the peak of newly incurred non-performing loans has passed. Throughout the year, the bank recovered 16.2 billion yuan through account write-offs, exceeding 10 billion yuan for five consecutive years, continuing to contribute to profit growth.

Overall, asset quality remained stable. As of the end of 2025, Industrial Bank’s non-performing loan ratio was 1.08%, remaining flat compared to mid-year and the third quarter; the attention loan ratio was 1.69%, down 0.02 percentage points from the beginning of the year, and the overdue rate was 1.49%, down 0.1 percentage points from the beginning of the year.

In terms of risk disposal in key areas of market concern, Industrial Bank’s public financing balance in the real estate sector decreased by 53.3 billion yuan compared to the beginning of the year, with new non-performing loans declining year-on-year; the balance of local government financing platform business decreased by 46.643 billion yuan, with a cumulative reduction of exposure by 35.8 billion yuan through special bonds, and nearly 1.7 billion yuan in impairment reversal; the credit card non-performing rate and overdue rate decreased by 0.29 percentage points and 0.08 percentage points from the beginning of the year, respectively, while the retail loan non-performing rate was 0.88%.

Business structure continues to strengthen technology and green finance

In 2025, Industrial Bank’s asset-liability structure continued to optimize. By the end of the year, the total loan amount reached 5.95 trillion yuan, an increase of 229.1 billion yuan compared to the beginning of the year, with loans to green, technology, and manufacturing sectors growing by 19.05%, 18.47%, and 15.10%, respectively, shifting asset allocation towards key areas of the real economy.

A relevant person from Industrial Bank stated at the press conference that the establishment of AIC is conducive to the development of financial technology, but in practice, it is still necessary to pay attention to the balance of risks and returns for technology enterprises, and the next step is to strengthen internal collaboration within the group to serve technology companies, building an optimized product system for “equity, bonds, and loans,” and integrating external resources such as government, universities, and research institutions to provide diversified services for clients.