Recently, listed banks have successively disclosed their semi-annual reports.

On August 28th, Chengdu Bank (601838.SH) released its semi-annual report for 2024, showing that as of the end of June this year, the bank's total assets reached 1,200.305 billion yuan, an increase of 109.062 billion yuan from the end of last year, a growth of 9.99%; the total deposit balance was 856.672 billion yuan, an increase of 76.251 billion yuan from the end of last year, a growth of 9.77%; the total loan balance was 707.749 billion yuan, an increase of 82.007 billion yuan from the end of last year, a growth of 13.11%. The proportion of deposits to total liabilities was 76.08%, and the business structure remained stable.

During the reporting period, Chengdu Bank achieved a total operating income of 11.585 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.475 billion yuan, a growth of 4.28%, a decrease of 6.88 percentage points from the same period last year; the net profit attributable to the parent company was 6.167 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.591 billion yuan, a growth of 10.60%, a decrease of 14.5 percentage points from the same period last year.

Looking at the composition of revenue, Chengdu Bank's net interest income in the first half of the year was 9.077 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of only 1.91%, a significant slowdown compared to the same period last year. This is due to the further narrowing of the bank's net interest margin. As of the end of the first half of the year, Chengdu Bank's net interest margin was 1.66%, a decrease of 15 basis points from the end of last year. However, the significant increase in non-interest income such as fees and commissions has become an important guarantee for Chengdu Bank's stable revenue. As of the end of the first half of the year, the bank's fees and commissions income increased significantly, reaching 0.452 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 31.94%.

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In terms of asset quality, as of the end of the first half of the year, Chengdu Bank's total non-performing loan balance was 4.67 billion yuan, an increase of 0.432 billion yuan from the end of last year, with a non-performing loan ratio of 0.66%, a decrease of 0.02 percentage points from the end of last year; the provision coverage ratio was 496.02%, a decrease of 8.27 percentage points from the end of last year. Looking at the long-term trend, the bank's non-performing loan ratio has always been at a lower level in the industry, with asset quality reaching the industry benchmark level, and the provision coverage ratio reaching the industry's advanced level.

In response, Chengdu Bank stated that it will continue to strengthen internal management and improve risk control capabilities under the guidance of the work philosophy of "strictly controlling new additions and resolving existing stock". At the same time, it actively resolves loan risks through multiple channels and methods, and the overall credit risk is currently controllable. On the one hand, by formulating credit policy guidelines, strengthening customer access, marketing high-quality customers, and strengthening the whole process management of loans, risks are controlled at the source; on the other hand, by accelerating the disposal of existing non-performing loans through cash recovery, litigation recovery, and write-offs.

In terms of capital adequacy, Chengdu Bank is under some pressure. As of the end of the first half of the year, the bank's capital adequacy ratio was 13.21%, an increase of 0.32 percentage points from the end of last year; the tier-1 capital adequacy ratio and the core tier-1 capital adequacy ratio were 8.90% and 8.17%, respectively, a decrease of 0.08 and 0.06 percentage points from the end of last year.

It is worth mentioning that in order to further alleviate capital pressure, Chengdu Bank successfully issued a total of 14.9 billion yuan of subordinated capital bonds in June and August this year, which will be used to supplement Chengdu Bank's subordinated capital and improve the capital adequacy ratio.

Overall, against the backdrop of a slowdown in macroeconomic growth and pressure on the banking industry's operations, Chengdu Bank has still maintained a steady growth in its operating performance. In this regard, Everbright Securities pointed out in its research report that Chengdu Bank is rooted in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, benefiting from strategic opportunities such as the demonstration area of park cities and the construction of the Chengdu metropolitan area. It has a natural advantage in obtaining high-quality public projects, and its regional environmental advantages are more prominent. At the same time, the company has excellent asset quality, with the non-performing loan ratio running at a low level, and the high provision coverage ratio makes the company's risk compensation capability stronger.