Dividend Payout Ratio Continued Rising
发布时间:2026-05-28 来源:华泰证券
For 2025, Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank (SRCB) reported revenue/attributable net profit (NP)/PPOP growth of -2.9/+0.2/-2.5% YoY. In 2025, the revenue decline narrowed quarter by quarter, as the decline in interest income moderated. For 1Q26, revenue/attributable NP grew by 1.2/0.7% YoY, as core profitability remained robust. The bank plans to distribute a dividend of RMB0.435 per share for 2025, representing an annual cash dividend payout ratio (DPR) of 34.07% (2024: 33.91%). Overall, the bank's operating quality is solid, and its DPR continues to rise. Maintain OVERWEIGHT.
Scale expanded steadily but NIM edged down
For 1Q26, total assets/loans/deposits grew by 5.7/4.2/7.1% YoY, changing by -1.0/+1.9/+1.2pp vs 2025. Among RMB30.7bn of loans issued in 1Q26, corporate loans accounted for 58%. Retail loans still made a negative contribution (-16%) due to factors such as early repayments, and discounted bills accounted for 58%, reflecting that the real economy's credit demand remained soft. The net interest margin (NIM) for 2025 was 1.37%, and we estimate that the 1Q26 NIM edged down vs 2025. For 2025, the yield on interest-earning assets/loan yield stood at 2.91/3.18% (-45/-59bp YoY). Proactive optimization on the liability side showed results. For 2025, the deposit cost ratio was 1.47% (-31bp YoY), and the average cost ratio of interest-bearing liabilities was 1.58% (-33bp YoY), which has mitigated the NIM downtick. For 1Q26, net interest income climbed by 2.3% YoY (+6.2pp vs 2025).
Fee income growth rallied; non-interest income stayed weak
For 1Q26, non-interest income fell by 1.6% YoY (-1.8pp vs 2025). For 1Q26, net fee and commission income rose by 16.9% YoY (+19.0pp vs 2025), driven by rapid growth of wealth management fee income such as agency sales of wealth management products and insurance. Amid bond market fluctuations, other non-interest income fell by 10.9% YoY (-12.3pp vs 2025). Specifically, investment income grew by 9.2% YoY, indicating resilience in the bank's trading capabilities, but fair value change gains dropped by RMB46mn YoY. For 1Q26, the capital adequacy ratio (CAR)/core Tier-1 CAR stood at 16.5/14.2% (-31/-26bp vs 2025). Ample capital buffers provided solid support for robust business expansion and dividend distribution. For 1Q26, the cost-to-income ratio fell by 2.3pp YoY to 23.1%.
Asset quality consolidated, risk buffers thick
For 1Q26, the bank's non-performing loan (NPL) ratio was 0.96%, flat vs the end of 2025. The provision coverage ratio was 303% (-26pp vs the end of 2025), still at a relatively optimal level in the sector, indicating sufficient risk offset capabilities. Structurally, the corporate NPL ratio for 2025 was 0.87% (-7bp vs 1H25), of which the property-related NPL ratio fell by 17bp YoY to 0.98%, showing improving corporate loan asset quality. The retail NPL ratio rose by 6bp vs 1H25 to 1.56%, mainly due to the risk exposure of internet loans and consumer loans. The bank has proactively scaled back related businesses, but retail loan risks remain to be monitored. For 1Q26, impairment provisions rose by 35.8% YoY to RMB586mn. We estimate the credit cost ratio for 1Q26 at 0.3%, still at a relatively low level.
Earnings forecasts and valuation
We project 2026/2027/2028 attributable NP of RMB12.7/13.2/13.8bn (2026/2027 forecasts largely flat), representing YoY growth rates of 3.3/3.4/4.6%. We estimate 2026 BVPS of RMB14.15 (previous: RMB14.57), implying a PB ratio of 0.64x. We value the stock at 0.73x 2026E PB (previous: 0.69x), a premium over its peers' average of 0.53x on Wind consensus (previous: 0.58x 2025E PB), to factor in the bank's robust operations and rising dividend returns. Our target price is RMB10.33 (previous: RMB9.99). Maintain OVERWEIGHT.
Risks: Policy implementation and economic recovery trailing our expectations.