As the disclosure of the semi-annual reports of listed companies approaches its conclusion, Nike Air Presto, the performance report of both markets gradually becomes clear. Although the global financial industry has been impacted by the debt crises in the US and Europe, domestic listed banks performed outstandingly in the first half of the year. Statistics show that as of August 26th, the profit growth rate of the 12 listed banks that have already released their semi-annual reports was 34.2%, with a total profit of 420.7 billion yuan, accounting for half of the total profits of all listed companies.
However, while the banks were making substantial profits, the high growth rate of bank fee income also sparked continuous controversy. The Economic Herald reporter noticed that according to the disclosed information, the growth rate of bank fee income is generally above 40%, with some even exceeding 90%.
"Actually, the good performance of banks and the rapid advancement of intermediary businesses are not bad things for the market, Nike Air Max 89, indicating that bank services are becoming more profound and abundant; however, while the performance of banks is improving, the quality of service in the banking industry should also be enhanced." On August 28th, Yi Xianrong, researcher at the Institute of Finance of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and special commentator of the Economic Herald, stated.
"Profit Backbone"
Currently, banks have become the uncontested "profit backbone" of China's stock market.
According to the "iFinD Financial Data" from Tonghuashun, as of August 26th, the total net profit of over 1800 listed companies that have already disclosed their semi-annual reports was 773 billion yuan. Among the top ten companies in terms of net profit, seven were banks.
Among them, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (601398) achieved a net profit of 109.6 billion yuan, becoming the only company on both markets with a net profit exceeding 10 billion yuan. With an average daily profit of 6.05 billion yuan in the first half of the year, it’s no wonder that some netizens jokingly referred to it as a "money printer." China Construction Bank (CCB) (601939) followed closely behind, achieving a net profit of 92.953 billion yuan, growing by 31.33% year-on-year; Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) (601288) had a net profit of 66.679 billion yuan, ranking third; Bank of China (BOC) (601988) had a net profit of 66.513 billion yuan, ranking fourth.
The two petrochemical giants —— PetroChina (601857) and Sinopec (600028) —— had net profits of 66.006 billion yuan and 38 billion yuan respectively in the first half of the year, ranking after the four major state-owned banks.
In fact, Chinese listed banks not only performed prominently in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets but also their strong profitability made foreign banks "jealous." The Economic Herald reporter noticed that among the well-known international banks that have already disclosed their semi-annual reports, HSBC achieved a net profit of 8.929 billion USD, Wells Fargo 7.52 billion USD. According to the exchange rate of 6.4 RMB per USD, the profitability of these international giants lags behind the four major state-owned banks.
Why such excessive profits?
With the announcement of the semi-annual reports, the profit model of banks also came to light, Nike Air Max Lebron 8. The Economic Herald reporter found that the impressive performance of banks was partly due to the increase in net interest margin and partly due to the robust growth in non-interest income such as fees and commissions.
The semi-annual report showed that ICBC's net interest margin and net interest yield were 2.49% and 2.60% respectively in the first half of the year, increasing by 21 basis points and 23 basis points respectively year-on-year. Affected by this, ICBC's net interest income in the first half of the year was 174.5 billion yuan, growing by 21.8%.
Similar to ICBC, other banks also increased their net interest margin in the first half of the year. Among them, ABC increased by 32 basis points, reaching 2.79%; CCB increased by 25 basis points, reaching 2.66%; ICBC increased by 23 basis points, reaching 2.6%; BOC increased by 7 basis points, reaching 2.11%. "This is related to the macro-control policies in the first half of the year, tightening credit, and further increasing loan interest rates," said Yi Xianrong.
Moreover, the growth in intermediary business also provided profit support for banks. Taking ICBC as an example, in the first half of the year, it actually achieved a net income of 53.8 billion yuan from fee and commission business, growing by 45.8% year-on-year.
In fact, except for the 23.56% increase in BOC, the fee income of multiple listed banks grew by more than 40%. Among them, Hua Xia Bank (600015), Pu Fa Bank (600000), and Min Sheng Bank (600016) saw significant increases, with fee and commission net income growing by 90.51%, 80.69%, and 75.63% respectively year-on-year.
Service quality should match the growth rate
It is worth noting, Nike Air Max 97, that despite the large increase in profits of listed banks, especially the rapid growth in intermediary business income, the public recognition of banks did not correspondingly improve, and customer doubts about arbitrary bank fees continued.
"In recent years, the net income from bank fees and commissions has generally grown faster than cost income, and the proportion in bank operating revenue has gradually increased," revealed a person within the banking industry, Air Max TN.
It is understood that there are thousands of types of bank services facing customers in the market. Currently, bank service charge items are mainly divided into three categories: one, where the charge price is determined by relevant departments; two, where charges are proposed by commercial banks and reported to relevant departments for record; three, where relevant departments authorize commercial banks to decide on charges themselves. The most controversial ones in society are mainly concentrated in the third category.
"Regarding the rapid growth of intermediary business in the banking industry, relevant departments should further strengthen supervision to achieve real transparency and openness," Hu Jinyan, standing vice dean of the School of Economics at Shandong University, vice president of the Shandong Financial Society, and special commentator of the Economic Herald, believed.
On August 28th, a commentary titled "Four Suggestions for Banks Making Substantial Profits" published by Xinhua News Agency also pointed out that banks should improve service levels, enhance service quality, increase customer satisfaction, and the situation of "big stores bullying customers" in some banks must be thoroughly changed.