Agricultural Bank of China (1288) Q3 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Net profit for Q3 reached CNY 215.3 billion, up 3.6% year-over-year, with operating income at CNY 540.7 billion, up 1.3% YoY.

• Net profit for the nine months ended 30 September 2024 reached RMB215,262 million, up 3.60% year-over-year.

• Operating income for the same period was RMB540,659 million, a 1.31% increase year-over-year.

• Total assets grew to RMB43,553,293 million, up 9.23% from the end of 2023.

• Asset quality remained stable, with NPL ratio at 1.32%, down 0.01 percentage points from H1.

Financial highlights

• Net interest income rose 1% YoY to CNY 437.8 billion; net interest margin held steady at 1.45% compared to H1.

• Net fee and commission income declined 7.65% to RMB61,653 million year-over-year.

• Domestic loan balance increased by CNY 2.21 trillion, up 8.2% YoY, leading peers in both margin and speed.

• Green credit exceeded CNY 4.9 trillion, up 22.2% YoY.

• Cost-to-income ratio (PRC GAAP) improved by 0.20 percentage points to 28.94%.

Outlook and guidance

• Expectation of stable asset quality and continued growth in operating profits, though some pressure remains due to market volatility and policy-driven interest rate adjustments.

• Interim cash dividend of RMB1.164 per ten shares proposed, totaling RMB40,738 million, pending shareholder approval.

• Deposit cost pressure expected to ease as deposit interest rates decline, partially offsetting narrowing net interest spread.