Everbright Bank's 12.4 billion "capital infusion" behind the scenes: revenue declines for four consecutive quarters, average salary cut by over 90k

Following the recent “blunder” incident with the financial report, Everbright Bank (601818.SH) has announced a capital increase: registered capital has grown by over 12.4 billion yuan to 59.09 billion yuan. However, financial news notes that while the capital is being “replenished,” the bank’s performance remains under pressure. By 2025, the bank’s operating income and net profit attributable to the parent both declined by more than 6% year-on-year, with operating income decreasing for four consecutive years.

Performance pressure has also affected employee compensation. In 2025, among nine A-share listed joint-stock banks, Everbright Bank had the lowest average salary at 375.9k yuan, 223.2k yuan less than the highest-paying Bank of Communications (601328.SH). Everbright Bank also experienced the largest decrease in per capita salary among these nine banks, with employees’ average annual salary dropping by over 90k yuan in 2025.

Capital increase of over 10 billion, asset quality under pressure

According to the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, Everbright Bank recently completed a change in its registered capital registration, increasing from 46.68 billion yuan to 59.09 billion yuan, further strengthening its capital base.

This significant increase in registered capital traces back to 2024, when Everbright Bank converted its A-share convertible bonds and delisted. The bank submitted a registration capital change application to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and received regulatory approval in September. After completing the industrial and commercial registration process, the bank recently finalized the registration capital change, marking the official conclusion of this capital replenishment plan.

Additionally, recent 2025 annual report data show that by the end of 2025, Everbright Bank’s total assets reached 7.17 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.96% from the beginning of the year.

While expanding its asset size, asset quality has come under pressure. As of the end of 2025, Everbright Bank’s non-performing loan (NPL) balance was 375.9k yuan, an increase of 1.49 billion yuan from the previous year; the NPL ratio was 1.27%, up 0.02 percentage points from the end of the previous year; the provision coverage ratio was 174.14%, down 6.45 percentage points from the end of last year.

Both revenue and profit declined, with four consecutive years of revenue decline

In terms of operating performance, Everbright Bank achieved operating income of 223.2k yuan in 2025, down 90k yuan or 6.72% year-on-year; net profit attributable to the parent was 71.7k yuan, down 6.88% year-on-year. Notably, Everbright Bank’s operating income has declined year-on-year for four consecutive years.

Regarding the double decline in revenue and net profit in 2025, Liu Yan, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Everbright Bank, stated at the recent earnings meeting that the main reasons were narrowing net interest margins and a phased decline in other income.

The annual report shows that Everbright Bank’s net interest margin in 2025 was 1.4%, down 0.14 percentage points from the previous year. Driven by the narrowing net interest margin, the bank’s core revenue component—interest net income (which accounts for 72.92% of operating income)—decreased by 50.74B yuan to 126.31B yuan, a decline of 4.72%. During the same period, net fee and commission income was 38.83B yuan, up 6.19%.

Retail banking also faced pressure. In 2025, retail financial business operating income was 4.56B yuan, down 92.1B yuan or 8.45%, accounting for 39.93% of the bank’s total operating income.

Among retail business data, retail deposit balances (including retail parts of margin deposits) reached 1.3687 trillion yuan, an increase of 20.25B yuan or 6.20% from the end of last year. However, retail loan balances (excluding credit cards) were 1.097536 trillion yuan, a decrease of 9.14 billion yuan or 0.83% from the end of last year.

A-share 9 joint-stock banks with the lowest employee salaries

Performance pressure has also impacted employee compensation. In 2025, among nine A-share listed joint-stock banks, Everbright Bank had the lowest average salary at 375.9k yuan, 223.2k yuan less than the highest-paying Bank of Communications (601328.SH), with a noticeable gap.

Meanwhile, Everbright Bank also experienced the largest decrease in per capita salary among these nine banks, with employees’ average annual salary dropping by over 90k yuan in 2025.

In comparison, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (600000.SH), Ping An Bank (000001.SZ), Zheshang Bank (601916.SH), China Merchants Bank (600036.SH), and Bank of Communications also saw some reductions in per capita salaries in 2025, but the overall declines were limited, mostly small adjustments, without the sharp drop seen at Everbright Bank.

Data from Tonghuashun iFinD, chart by Li Danhong