On August 20th, Cailian News reported that the semi-annual report of Changshu Rural Commercial Bank was released today. From the data, the non-performing loan ratio of Changshu Rural Commercial Bank increased slightly in the first half of the year, and the net interest margin still fell. In addition, the investment income of the bank increased year-on-year, the scale of financial investment assets continued to expand, but the national debt balance decreased, and the proportion of financial assets allocation also decreased.

The overall performance of Changshu Rural Commercial Bank maintains high-speed growth. The bank's semi-annual report shows that the revenue was CNY 5.506 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.03%; from the growth rate of net income attributable to the parent, the net income attributable to the parent of the bank in the first quarter increased by 19.8% YoY, and the semi-annual report shows that the net income attributable to the parent of the bank at the end of June was CNY 1.734 billion, a YoY increase of 19.58%.

In terms of asset size, as of the end of June 2024, the bank's total assets were CNY 367.307 billion, total loans were CNY 238.934 billion, of which corporate loans were CNY 88.666 billion, accounting for 37.11%, and personal loans were CNY 136.136 billion, accounting for 56.98%. The total liabilities were CNY 338.912 billion. Total deposits were CNY 282.76 billion, an increase of CNY 34.822 billion from the beginning of the year, with a growth rate of 14.04%.

It is worth noting that Changshu Rural Commercial Bank faced pressure on both net interest margin and net interest income margin. Specifically, the net interest margin fell to 2.79%, and the net interest income margin fell to 2.63%. Compared with the same period last year, both have declined by 0.07%. In the first quarter, the net interest margin of Changshu Rural Commercial Bank was 2.83%, which has already decreased by 3bps compared to the end of 2023. It can be seen that the pressure on the net interest margin has not been resolved. This is the third consecutive year that these two key indicators have shown a downward trend.

In terms of asset quality, the non-performing loan ratio of Changshu Rural Commercial Bank has increased slightly this year, and the provision coverage ratio continues to increase. At the end of June, the bank's loan non-performing loan ratio increased by 0.01 percentage points from the beginning of the year to 0.76%; the provision coverage ratio continued to increase from the first quarter to 538.81%, an increase of 0.93 percentage points from the beginning of the year.

Not long ago, Changshu Rural Commercial Bank was suspected of manipulating market prices and transmitting interests in the national debt secondary market trading, and initiated a self-discipline investigation. It can be seen that the scale of Changshu Rural Commercial Bank's financial investment assets continued to expand in the first half of this year, but the national debt balance decreased. The mid-term report of 2024 shows that the bank's scale of financial investment assets held was CNY 97.86 billion, but the national debt balance decreased to CNY 17.787 billion, and the proportion decreased to 18.18%. The bank's investment income in the first half of this year was CNY 0.917 billion, a year-on-year increase of 95.96%.

It can be seen that the investment income of Changshu Rural Commercial Bank in the non-interest income has increased significantly year-on-year. In the first half of this year, the bank's investment income was CNY 0.917 billion, a year-on-year increase of 95.96%. Prior to this, the other non-interest income of the bank in the first quarter increased by 67% YoY, mainly due to the significant increase in investment income such as trading financial assets. In the first quarter, the bank's investment income increased by 276.76% YoY, accounting for about 20.6% of the current operating income.

Regarding the self-discipline investigation, relevant personnel of Changshu Rural Commercial Bank responded to the reporter of Cailian News that the bank's national debt transactions may be more frequent or relatively large, which attracted the attention of the trading association, but it does not mean that there are illegal operations in the business. At the same time, the bank's main responsibility and business are not national debt trading, and the above self-discipline investigation will not have a significant impact on the operation of the fundamentals.