China’s Mega Banks Hit by Margin Squeeze Amid Bad Loan Pressure

© Bloomberg. Signage outside an Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC) branch in Shanghai, China, on Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. ICBC is scheduled to release earnings results on Aug. 30. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- China’s biggest banks, including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (OTC:IDCBY) Ltd., reported slowing earnings growth and eroding margins after being enlisted by Beijing to help stave off a deeper slump in the world’s second-biggest economy.

ICBC, the world’s biggest bank by assets, reported net income grew 4.9%, the slowest in two years, in the first half of the year, while earnings at Bank of China Ltd (OTC:BACHY) and China Construction Bank (OTC:CICHF) Corp climbed 6.3% and 5.4% year-on-year, respectively. ICBC’s net interest margin slid to 2.03% from 2.12% and CCB’s narrowed to 2.09%, while BOC’s was unchanged at 1.76% from a year earlier.   

The $52 trillion banking industry is facing an increasingly difficult year, with its largest lenders cutting loan rates while bad debt is piling up amid a property crisis. Authorities in Beijing are expecting them to help economic growth at the cost of earnings as they contend with falling home prices, stalled developments and a nationwide consumer mortgage boycott.

“The bank will further give play to its leading role as a large bank to implement, in a high-quality manner, the central government’s package of policies for maintaining stable economic growth, and be a good leader in countercyclical credit supply,” ICBC said in its report.

The banking industry’s outstanding non-performing loans rose to a record 2.95 trillion yuan as of June. The lenders’ exposure to real estate is bigger than that of any other industry, with 39 trillion yuan in outstanding mortgages and 12 trillion yuan in loans to developers, official data show. In particular, Bank of China’s exposure to mainland property is higher than its peers, at about 38% of total loans.

ICBC reported its non-performing loan ratio on real estate rose to 5.47% in the first half from 4.79% at the end of 2021. Agricultural Bank of China (OTC:ACGBF) Ltd. earlier said its real estate NPL grew to 3.97% from 3.39% at the end last year. 

Bank of Communications Co Ltd ADR (OTC:BCMXY) Co. last week reported a 79% jump in non-performing property loans for the first half while China Merchants Bank Co Ltd (OTC:CIHKY) Co. saw its non-performing loans to real estate double. 

The squeeze of being told to lend more while borrowing demand is scant has also forced some big banks to employ unusual practices to shore up loan volumes.

China’s central bank this month cut its benchmark interest rate to shore up growth. A Bloomberg poll of economists forecast China’s annual economic growth at 3.5%, far below the official target of 5.5%, hurt by Covid lockdowns, tepid domestic demand and troubles in the real estate sector.

Banks will face even more margin pressure in the second half of the year as the impact of lower benchmark rates emerge, said Grace Wu, head of Greater China bank ratings at Fitch Ratings. Banks are facing capital constraints, with their core-capital positions having deteriorated this year, just as they are expected to boost lending.

“It puts banks in a bit of a tricky situation,” she said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Tuesday before the reports.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.