The third-quarter financial reports of China's six major state-owned banks have been released, showing growth in both revenue and net profits.
In the first three quarters of 2025, the combined revenue of these banks reached 2.72 trillion yuan, while their combined net profit attributable to shareholders exceeded 1 trillion yuan, hitting 1.07 trillion yuan. This translates to a daily profit of approximately 3.9 billion yuan over 273 days.
By the end of Q3, the total assets of the six banks surpassed 200 trillion yuan, reaching 217.97 trillion yuan. Among them, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) remained the largest, with total assets nearing 53 trillion yuan (52.81 trillion yuan).
**Revenue and Profit Growth Across the Board** ICBC led in revenue with 640.03 billion yuan, followed by China Construction Bank (CCB) at 573.70 billion yuan and Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) at 550.88 billion yuan. Bank of China (BOC), Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC), and Bank of Communications (BoCom) reported revenues of 491.20 billion yuan, 265.08 billion yuan, and 199.65 billion yuan, respectively.
BOC saw the fastest revenue growth at 2.69% year-on-year (YoY), driven by a rebound in non-interest income, which surged 16.20% to 165.41 billion yuan, accounting for 33.67% of total revenue. ICBC and CCB also posted strong non-interest income growth, exceeding 11%.
In terms of profitability, ABC stood out with a 3.03% YoY increase in net profit, the highest among the six. BoCom and BOC followed with growth rates above 1%, while PSBC, CCB, and ICBC recorded more modest increases.
**Asset Quality and NIM Trends** PSBC maintained the highest net interest margin (NIM) at 1.68%, though it declined by 21 basis points (bps) YoY. CCB's NIM fell 16 bps to 1.36%, while ABC, ICBC, and BOC reported NIMs of 1.30%, 1.28%, and 1.26%, respectively, each down 15 bps. BoCom's NIM dropped the least, by 8 bps to 1.20%.
Asset quality improved for five banks, with only PSBC reporting a slight increase in non-performing loan (NPL) ratio to 0.94%. ICBC had the highest NPL ratio at 1.33%, though it improved by 1 bps. ABC, CCB, BOC, and BoCom all saw their NPL ratios decline.
ABC also led in provision coverage at 295.08%, the highest among the six.
Despite challenges like narrowing NIMs and rising deposit costs, the banks demonstrated resilience through structural optimization and cost control, ensuring steady performance in a complex economic environment.