CMB posts 148.4b yuan profit

China Merchants Bank's (3968) net profit last year inched up by 1.2 percent to 148.4 billion yuan (HK$158.96 billion) from a year earlier and the lender raised the final dividend by 1.4 percent to 2 yuan.

Net operating income edged down by 0.5 percent to 337.1 billion yuan. Its net interest income slid by 1.5 percent to 211.3 billion yuan, while the non-interest income grew by 1.1 percent to 125.8 billion yuan.

Net interest margin fell by 17 basis points to 1.9 percent.

Non-performing loans rose by 4 billion yuan to 65.6 billion yuan as of the end of December, but the non-performing loan ratio remained unchanged at 0.95 percent.

The allowance coverage ratio was 411.9 percent, representing a decrease of 25.72 percentage points from 2023, and the allowance-to-loan ratio also dropped by 0.2 percentage points to 3.9 percent.

Staff reporter