China Construction Bank’s interim dividend hits record 52.58 billion yuan as net interest margin rebounds, driving revenue and profit growth

China Construction Bank (601939.SS, 00939.HK) released its 2026 interim report on August 28, showing that first-half operating revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders both hit record highs for the period, while the bank raised its interim dividend payout ratio to 31% for the first time, proposing total cash dividends of approximately 52.58 billion yuan (approximately $7.8 billion).

The interim report showed CCB achieved first-half revenue of 436.53 billion yuan (approximately $65.0 billion), up 10.72% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 169.56 billion yuan (approximately $25.2 billion), up 4.62%. The revenue growth rate reached double digits for the first time in nearly a decade.

Zhang Yi, president of China Construction Bank, said at the interim results briefing held the same day that profitability continued to improve in the first half, with net profit and net profit attributable to shareholders growing 5.56% and 4.62% year-on-year respectively, up 1.88 and 1.09 percentage points from the first quarter. He noted that operating income grew 10.48%, maintaining double-digit growth for two consecutive quarters, with both net interest income and non-interest net income contributing to growth.

From a revenue structure perspective, net interest income remained the dominant driver of CCB’s revenue. In the first half, net interest income reached 310.96 billion yuan (approximately $46.3 billion), up 8.46% year-on-year, accounting for 72.94% of operating income. This growth was closely tied to the stabilization and recovery of the net interest margin. Data showed CCB’s first-half net interest margin was 1.37%, up 3 basis points from full-year 2025 and 1 basis point from the first quarter of 2026. The bank explained in its interim report that this was driven by the release of earlier rate-cut effects, combined with proactive measures to improve the asset-liability structure and strengthen pricing management, resulting in a larger decline in funding costs on the liability side than the decline in yields on the asset side.

On non-interest net income, CCB recorded 115.38 billion yuan (approximately $17.2 billion) in the first half, up 16.31% year-on-year, with its share of operating income rising by 1.36 percentage points. Within this, net fee and commission income was 64.29 billion yuan (approximately $9.6 billion), down 1.42% year-on-year. Other non-interest net income reached 51.09 billion yuan (approximately $7.6 billion), up 50.35% year-on-year, mainly driven by higher net gains on investment securities and gains from the derecognition of financial assets measured at amortized cost.

Within fee and commission income, agency business fees totaled 11.21 billion yuan (approximately $1.7 billion), up 18.73% year-on-year, which CCB attributed to continued enhancement of wealth management services, with faster growth in income from distribution of funds and wealth management products. Advisory and consulting fees were 6.49 billion yuan (approximately $965.9 million), down 10.89% year-on-year, mainly due to weaker demand from certain industry clients compared with the same period last year. Asset management business income was 3.39 billion yuan (approximately $504.1 million), down 44.24% year-on-year, which CCB said was mainly due to a high base in the prior-year period.

On asset quality, as of end-June, CCB’s non-performing loan balance was 378.98 billion yuan (approximately $56.4 billion), up 14.99 billion yuan (approximately $2.2 billion) from end-2025. The non-performing loan ratio was 1.29%, down 0.02 percentage points from end-2025. The special-mention loan ratio was 1.77%, flat from end-2025. The provision coverage ratio was 238.69%, up 5.54 percentage points from end-2025. The capital adequacy ratio and core Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio were 19.42% and 14.24% respectively.

By product, the non-performing loan ratio for corporate loans and advances was 1.46%, down 0.07 percentage points from end-2025, while the ratio for personal loans and advances was 1.31%, up 0.12 percentage points. Within personal loans, the non-performing ratio for personal housing loans rose from 0.89% at end-2025 to 0.98%, credit card loan NPLs rose from 2.36% to 2.54%, personal business loan NPLs rose from 1.58% to 1.78%, and personal consumption loan NPLs rose from 1.07% to 1.12%.

By region, the NPL ratio in the Pearl River Delta region fell from 2.01% at end-2025 to 1.84%, the Yangtze River Delta region edged down from 0.84% to 0.83%, the Bohai Rim region rose from 1.20% to 1.23%, and the western region rose 0.06 percentage points to 1.21%.

On balance sheet scale, as of end-June, CCB’s total assets were 47.33 trillion yuan, up 3.72% from end-2025, and total liabilities were 43.49 trillion yuan, up 3.69%. Deposits absorbed totaled 31.82 trillion yuan, up 3.19% from end-2025, with demand deposits accounting for over 40% and the deposit cost rate at 1.11%, down 29 basis points year-on-year. Assets under management for personal clients exceeded 24 trillion yuan, up 1.04 trillion yuan from end-2025.

On credit deployment, CCB’s total loans and advances were 29.34 trillion yuan, up 5.65% from end-2025. Corporate loans totaled 17.60 trillion yuan, up 6.86% from end-2025, while personal loans totaled 9.19 trillion yuan, up 0.32%. Within personal loans, there was clear divergence: personal consumption loans grew 14.59% from end-2025, personal business loans grew 10.57%, while personal housing loans fell by 134.91 billion yuan (approximately $20.1 billion), or 2.23%, and credit card loans fell by 77.53 billion yuan (approximately $11.5 billion), or 7.66%. In key sectors, manufacturing loan growth was 17.95%, and loans to private enterprises grew 9.42%.

On dividends, CCB’s board of directors proposed an interim cash dividend for 2026 of 2.010 yuan per 10 shares (pre-tax) to all ordinary shareholders, totaling approximately 52.58 billion yuan, with the payout ratio raised from 30.0% in 2025 to 31.0%. The proposal remains subject to shareholder approval.

The interim report also disclosed CCB’s progress in China’s “five major financial articles” priority areas. In technology finance, the bank underwrote 85 tranches of sci-tech innovation bonds in the first half, with underwriting volume of 48.77 billion yuan (approximately $7.3 billion). In green finance, green loan balances reached 6.53 trillion yuan at end-June, up 8.95% from the beginning of the year. In inclusive finance, inclusive small and micro enterprise loan balances were 4.09 trillion yuan, up 6.89% from end-2025, serving 3.82 million loan customers, with the average interest rate on newly issued inclusive small and micro enterprise loans at 2.96% in the first half. In pension finance, corporate pension clients reached 11,000, up 33% from end-2025, and CCB Pension’s second-pillar assets under management totaled 800.73 billion yuan (approximately $119.1 billion), up 10.70% from end-2025. In digital finance, generative AI has been deployed across more than 600 application scenarios, with full implementation in core business areas including intelligent marketing, intelligent customer service, intelligent investment advisory, intelligent operations, intelligent risk control, and intelligent management.