AgBank leads China's big five lenders in annual profit rise

Agricultural Bank of China (1288) reported on Monday a 3.18 percent rise in net profit for 2025, the fastest growth among the country’s top five lenders.

AgBank's annual net profit hit 291 billion yuan (HK$330 billion) while Bank of China (3988) reported a 2.18 percent rise for 2025.

The two lenders performed a little better than three of China’s other largest banks which reported nearly flat annual profits on Friday as the world’s second-largest economy reels from a deepening property sector debt crisis amid a prolonged slowdown.

BoC’s net interest margin, a gauge of profitability, was flat at the end of December from the end of the prior quarter, while AgBank's slipped slightly to 1.28 percent at the end of last year from 1.30 percent at the end of September. Both were largely in line with the other top three lenders.

Bankers and analysts expect the contraction in NIMs to further slow this year.

“Deposit repricing will lead to a decrease in deposit interest rates, which will have a positive impact on our bank’s stable net interest margin,” BoC’s Vice President Yang Jun told a post-earnings press conference.

“The contraction in NIM should ease in 2026, as we expect it comes to the tail-end of the interest rate-cut cycle,” said Elaine Xu, a director at Fitch Ratings.

AgBank's non-performing loan ratio was flat at the end of last year from the end of the previous quarter, while BoC’s ticked slightly up to 1.24 percent at the end of December from 1.23 percent at the end of September.

Separately, Postal Savings Bank of China's (1658) net profit grew 1 percent to 87.4 billion yuan.

Reuters and staff reporter