Bank of Chongqing Q3 profit result up 11.2pc, bolstered by fee and commission income
Bank of Chongqing third-quarter result backs up the trend of smaller banks outperforming larger rivals following interest rate cuts by the PBOC
The Bank of Chongqing said Monday its net profit for the third quarter rose by 11.2 per cent from a year earlier, helped by an increase in fee and commission income.
The bank reported net profit for the three months to the end of September of 930 million yuan, according to a filing. In its statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, Bank of Chongqing said its net interest income increased 13 per cent in the first nine months of this year while its fee and commission income rose by 27.6 per cent, thanks in particular to commission income from settlement and agency services.
This continues the trend of China’s city and rural commercial banks posting significantly better profit results than the big five state-owned banks.
Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, ICBC and Bank of Communications all reported net profits as remaining broadly flat in the third quarter.
In contrast, Bank of Nanjing, which is listed in Shanghai, saw a net profit increase of 23 per cent, and Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank saw its net profit up 12.3 per cent in Hong Kong.
China’s largest banks saw their net interest incomes fall this year as their net interest margins - the difference between the interest they earn on loans and the interest they pay out to depositors as a proportion of interest earning assets - came under increasing pressure following interest rate cuts from the People’s Bank of China.
Bank of China’s net interest margin for the first nine months was 1.85 per cent, a decrease of 0.29 percentage point compared with the same period in 2015.
In contrast, Bank of Chongqing’s annualised net interest margin was 2.40, a decline of just 0.16 percentage point.
This continues a trend from the first half of this year. PwC’s banking and capital markets partner James Tam said that as city commercial banks lend to smaller local companies, they can charge higher interest rates because of the greater risk associated with such lending.
