The Bank announces the 2015 annual operating results

2015 Financial Highlights:

•      Total assets amounted to RMB 18,349.489 billion, representing an increase of 9.59% compared with the previous year.

•      Profit before tax reached RMB 298,497 million, representing a decrease of 0.20% compared with the previous year. Net profit increased by 0.28% year-on-year to RMB 228,886 million.

•      Total loans and advances to customers stood at RMB 10,485.140 billion, growing 10.67% year-on-year. Total customer deposits amounted to RMB 13,668.533 billion, representing an increase of 5.96% year-on-year.

•      The annualized return on average assets and annualized return on average equity were 1.30% and 17.27% respectively.

•      Total capital adequacy ratio (CAR) was 15.39%, non-performing loan ratio was 1.58% and the provision coverage ratio was 150.99%.

•      Revenue grew by 6.09% year-on-year to RMB 605,197 million. Operating income increased by 5.38% year-on-year to RMB 586,687 million. Net interest income increased by 4.65%, and net interest margin (NIM) was 2.63%.

•      On account of the strong business performance, the Board recommends a cash dividend of RMB 0.274 per share for 2015 (tax included).

 

Beijing, 30 March 2016 – China Construction Bank Corporation (Hong Kong stock code: 939, Shanghai stock code: 601939; CCB or the “Bank”) today announced its operating performance for 2015. As at the end of December 2015, CCB’s total assets reached RMB 18.35 trillion, and recorded a net profit of RMB 228,886 million. The Bank’s return on average assets and return on average equity were 1.30% and 17.27%, respectively. The net interest margin (NIM) was 2.63%, the total capital adequacy ratio (CAR) was 15.39% and the common equity Tier 1 ratio was 13.13%. On account of the strong business performance, the Board recommends a cash dividend of RMB 0.274 per share for 2015 (tax included).

 

In 2015, despite the extremely complex operating environment and fierce market competition, CCB adapted well to the new normal of economic development and accelerated its transformation to a bank which features integration, multifunctional services, intensive development, innovation and intelligence. It provided support to key national development strategies such as “One Belt and One Road”, served the real economy, and strengthened its overall risk management. The Bank achieved solid growth through a good balance of scale, quality and profitability, with the core indicators and market capitalisation of the Group maintaining a leading position among peers.

 

Aligned with national strategic priorities and supported growth of the real economy

The Group responded to the state’s structural reform on the supply side and worked in accordance with the development strategies including “One Belt and One Road”, free trade zones, the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Yangtze River Economic Belt. CCB provided support to key national construction projects which improved people’s livelihoods and accelerated economic and social development. In 2015, CCB leveraged its traditional business strengths to expand infrastructure loans to RMB 2.71 trillion. CCB boosted the country’s economic and social development through the contracted and planned amount of RMB 1.25 trillion for major construction projects. Retail loans rose rapidly with the increase accounting for 58%. The Group further consolidated its leading position in housing finance with residential mortgages of RMB 2.77 trillion, remaining first among peers in terms of both the volume and incremental amount. The Group also met the business demand in other areas that showed strong growth potential. Loans to small and micro businesses were made in accordance with the regulatory policy of “three not less”. Agriculture-related loans amounted to RMB 1.89 trillion, up 5.64%. Loans for the construction of new suburbs amounted to RMB 96,882 million. The accumulated amount of loans granted to the online banking business since 2007 reached RMB 185,424 million, extending to over 18,000 customers. Meanwhile, CCB maintained strict control over loans to industries with excess capacity and credit lending for property development, and expanded its customer base to cover these sectors amongst others.

 

Strategic transformation led to outstanding achievements with steady improvement in operations

2015 was the first year that CCB implemented its Group-wide strategic transformation plan. The transformational business grew fast and considerable achievements have been made. By the end of 2015, the number of credit card issued was 80.74 million, with its spending amount reaching RMB 2.22 trillion, consolidating the Bank’s market position and leading role in terms of core indicators among peers. The number of private banking customers with financial assets of over RMB10 million grew by 23.08% and the total amount of customers’ financial assets within the Bank increased by 32.94%. The accumulated underwriting amount of debt financing instruments for non-financial enterprises was RMB 531.6 billion, which led the market. The Bank’s assets under custody totalled RMB 7.17 trillion, an increase of 67.36%; the Group ranked first in the market in both the number of managed securities investment funds and its growth. Another breakthrough was made for the expansion of the Group’s RMB international clearing network as CCB became the RMB clearing bank in Switzerland and Chile after being designated as London RMB clearing bank. Our major business indicators also surpassed our peers in special economic zones such as the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and Khorgas in Xinjiang.

 

CCB further advanced its comprehensive operations. The total assets of the integrated operation subsidiaries amounted to RMB 266,600 million, an increase of 40.65% year-on-year, with net profit reaching RMB 3,900 million, an increase of 59.01%. In 2015, the Group leveraged its advantage in a comprehensive range of financial licenses with its very first domestic pension management company officially opened and the market competitiveness of its subsidiaries further boosted. The volume of assets under management of CCB Trust ranked first among peers and CCB Life gained the highest premium income among the bank-affiliated insurance companies. The number of projects for which CCB International acted as securities sponsor and underwriter, and as M&A financial advisor also ranked top in the market. Due to our expanded global presence, the Group has established over 130 entities in 25 countries and regions, almost completing our network deployment in target markets globally. Our cross-border business and local operations abroad progressed rapidly and showed greater international competitiveness; the volume of the Bank’s international settlement amounted to US $1.29 trillion.

 

Innovations aroused intrinsic momentum, demonstrated leadership in internet finance

Based on updated studies of emerging markets, new business models, emerging enterprises and changes in customers’ needs, the Bank accelerated innovative projects not only in process management, systems and mechanisms, but also in products and business models, following the implementation of the mobile business as a strategic priority. In 2015, the Bank completed 1,970 items of product innovation and innovative duplication projects. With the help of the “New Generation Core Banking System”, the Bank improved its capabilities in the collection, management and application of data, accomplished the separation of products and channels, and then established a process-based bank. With the separation of transaction from accounting driven by enterprise-wide accounting rules, and the initial enterprise-wide data management system, the Bank is gradually generating a world-class data system. Meanwhile, the Bank also accelerated the building and promotion of smart outlets, and developed internet-based financial services, with the number of banking account transactions through electronic banking and self-service channels accounting for 95.58% of the total, up by 7.55% over the previous year. The Bank realized a comparatively rapid growth in the scale and customers of electronic channels, including online banking, personal mobile banking and SMS financial services, and outperformed its peers in several indicators such as the number of mobile customers, transactions and transactional volume, and became the first bank to achieve 200 million personal online banking customers. The accumulated transaction volume through e.ccb.com reached RMB 67,099 million with 11,000 active internet merchants in 2015. In addition, the Bank actively promoted five online payment options including account number payment, mobile payment, interbank payment, Long Card cloud payment and redirecting payment, resulting in the centralized processing of most major easy payment businesses.

 

Continuously improved capital management and risk control capability

In 2015, the Bank was listed as one of the Global Systematically Important Banks. The Group responded by initiating its recovery and resolution plan, establishing a crisis response system, and promoting the innovation of capital instruments by successfully issuing preference shares and Tier-2 capital bonds, which further consolidated its capital base. The Group increased efforts to dispose of high-risk projects and non-performing loans (“NPLs”) and made prudent and full provisions for loan impairment losses, thus maintaining an adequate reserve against risks. At the end of 2015, the Group’s NPL ratio was 1.58%, the ratio of allowances to NPLs was 150.99%, and the ratio of allowances to total loans was 2.39%.

 

Continued its commitment to corporate social responsibility and expanded inclusive financial services

In 2015, CCB made social welfare donations of RMB 41.21 million to programs in multiple sectors including education, medical and health care, and disaster relief. It continued to support charity programmes such as the “CCB Sponsorship Programme for Impoverished High School Students” and “Healthy Mother Express”. The Bank strengthened its efforts for increasing public awareness about consumer rights and interests, and promoted inclusive financial services and green credit with continued credit support for environmental protection, energy saving and emission reduction. In 2015, we received 122 awards from various organisations at home and abroad, including the “Best Bank in China” from the US magazine Global Finance, and Hong Kong magazines The Asset and The Corporate Treasurer. The Group ranked second in terms of tier-one capital in The Banker’s “The World’s Top 1000 Banks” in 2015 and second in Forbes’ “Global 2000” in 2015.

 

 

About China Construction Bank Corporation

China Construction Bank Corporation, established in October 1954 and headquartered in Beijing, is a leading large-scale joint stock commercial bank in Mainland China with a world-renowned reputation. The Bank was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in October 2005 (stock code: 939) and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in September 2007 (stock code: 601939). At the end of 2015, the Bank’s market capitalisation reached US$173.3 billion, ranking fifth among listed banks in the world.

 

With 14,917 branches and sub-branches in Mainland China, the Bank provides services to 3,925,600 corporate customers and 341 million personal customers, and maintains close cooperation with the leading enterprises of strategic industries in the Chinese economy and a large number of high-end customers. The Bank maintains overseas branches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, New York, Ho Chi Minh City, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Taipei, Luxembourg, Macau, Toronto, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Milan, London, Zurich and Dubai. It also has a number of subsidiaries, such as CCB Asia, CCB International, CCB London, CCB Russia, CCB Dubai, CCB Europe, CCB New Zealand, CCB Brasil, CCB Principal Asset Management, CCB Financial Leasing, CCB Trust, CCB Life, CCB Futures, CCB Pension and Sino-German Bausparkasse.