Our reporter Peng Yan
As of now, the 2021 annual reports of 6 state-owned banks and 8 joint-stock banks have been disclosed, and data related to the real estate business of key banks has gradually surfaced.
After sorting out the relevant data, a reporter from Securities Daily found that the proportion of most banks' corporate real estate loans and their asset quality have declined, while the proportion and asset quality of personal housing loans have risen and fallen.
The 2021 annual report disclosed by the listed bank shows that due to factors such as policy regulation and the decline in the real estate industry's prosperity, the bank's loan situation to the real estate business in 2021 will undergo major changes.
However, all banks have taken corresponding risk control measures, and the risks in the real estate industry are generally controllable at present.
A number of banks said that in the future, they will continue to prevent and defuse risks, support reasonable housing needs, actively support mergers and acquisitions of housing companies, and pay attention to affordable rental housing.
Corporate real estate loan business under pressure
The annual report data shows that in 2021, the balance of public real estate loans of the six state-owned banks will increase.
However, in terms of proportion, except for Bank of Communications and Postal Savings Bank, the proportion of public real estate loans of the other four state-owned banks all declined.
Among them, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has the most obvious decline, and its proportion will drop from 7.2% in 2020 to 6.5% in 2021.
The scale of corporate real estate loans of joint-stock banks has risen and fallen, but the proportions have all declined.
Among them, the proportion of Bohai Bank and Minsheng Bank decreased by 4.65 percentage points and 2.48 percentage points respectively.
In terms of asset quality, except for Bank of Communications and Postal Savings Bank, the non-performing ratios of public real estate loans of the other four state-owned banks all increased.
Among them, the non-performing ratio of Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's public real estate loans is significantly higher than that of other banks.
As of the end of 2021, the balance of ICBC's non-performing loans in corporate real estate was 33.82 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 108.28%; the non-performing loan ratio was 4.79%, an increase of 2.47 percentage points from the end of the previous year.
The balance of Bank of China's non-performing corporate real estate loans was 34.694 billion yuan, an increase of 4.742 billion yuan over the end of the previous year; the non-performing loan ratio was 5.05%, an increase of 0.37 percentage points over the previous year.
By the end of 2021, the non-performing loan ratios of the eight joint-stock banks to public real estate have increased to varying degrees.
Among them, China CITIC Bank has the highest non-performing loan ratio in corporate real estate, reaching 3.63%, an increase of 28 percentage points from the end of the previous year.
A number of banks said that the main reason for the rise in the non-performing loan rate in the real estate industry of banks was the insufficient solvency of individual housing enterprises.
China Merchants Bank stated in its 2021 annual report that due to factors such as industry policy regulation and the decline in the real estate industry’s prosperity, during the reporting period, some real estate companies operating with “high debt, high leverage, and high turnover” had increased debt risks.
The proportion of personal mortgage loans has generally increased
Compared with the corporate real estate loan business, last year, banks' personal housing loans increased in both proportion and asset quality, which is related to the increased support by major banks for residents' reasonable housing needs.
By the end of 2021, the personal housing loan balances of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of Communications, and Postal Savings Bank of China have all achieved an increase of more than 10%.
In terms of asset quality, with the exception of China Construction Bank's slightly higher NPL ratio and Bank of China's undisclosed data, the asset quality of other state-owned banks has generally improved, and the NPL ratio has declined.
Among joint-stock banks, the proportion of personal housing mortgage loans of most banks has increased.
Among them, the scale of personal housing mortgage loans of Ping An Bank and Zheshang Bank increased by more than 20% year-on-year.
As of the end of last year, the proportion of personal housing mortgage loans of Everbright Bank, Minsheng Bank, Ping An Bank and Zheshang Bank increased by 0.73 percentage points, 1.35 percentage points, 1.6 percentage points and 0.42 percentage points respectively over the previous year.
In addition, the non-performing rate of personal housing mortgage loans of some joint-stock banks has declined.
As of the end of last year, Industrial Bank's NPL ratio dropped from 0.53% in 2020 to 0.49%; China Merchants Bank's NPL ratio dropped to 0.28%.
However, some banks also saw a slight increase in the non-performing rate of personal housing mortgage loans.
In this regard, some banks stated in their annual reports, "Personal housing mortgage loans maintained growth last year, and the asset quality was much better than other loans, mainly due to the strict implementation of national control policies and various regulatory requirements, and the active implementation of differentiated housing credit. The policy focuses on supporting the reasonable housing needs of residents, such as rigid needs, improvement, and farmers entering the city."
How should banks deploy real estate business in 2022?
A number of banks have reached a consensus in their annual reports: "Currently, the real estate industry is still in the stage of risk release, and it will take some time before market sales are expected to improve. However, in the context of stabilizing macroeconomic and real estate policies, it is expected that the asset quality of the real estate sector will increase. Maintain overall stability.” (Securities Daily)