JPMorgan: Second-quarter revenue and profit growth of China’s five largest state-owned banks expected to outperform the industry average.
JPMorgan has released a preview report on Chinese banks’ second-quarter results, expecting listed Chinese banks to begin announcing their Q2 2026 earnings in late August. The bank forecasts that large state-owned banks will see year-over-year revenue growth of approximately 6% and profit growth of around 3%, outperforming joint-stock commercial banks, whose revenue and profits are both expected to grow by about 1% year-over-year. At the individual stock level, ahead of earnings releases, the bank is positive on Agricultural Bank of China (01288.HK), Bank of China (03988.HK), ICBC (01398.HK), China Construction Bank (00939.HK), and Bank of Communications (03328.HK).
By no means due to short-term sales! CCB surpasses ICBC with RMB 4.9 trillion in assets under custody—ranking reflects 5–10 years of accumulated strength.
① China Construction Bank surpassed ICBC with RMB 4.9 trillion in net asset value of publicly offered fund custody assets, ranking first in the industry; the top five institutions together held a market share of 50.31%, and all top-ten positions were occupied by banks. ② The shift in custody scale was not driven by sales dynamics over the past two years, but rather by differences in how seriously banks have prioritized this business over the last five to ten years.
Chinese Banks' 2Q Revenue Growth Likely Resilient -- Market Talk
Goldman Sachs: Divergence among Chinese bank stocks to accelerate in the second half; large banks remain preferred
Goldman Sachs published a research report noting that China's banking sector continues to face growth challenges due to slowing credit expansion. However, it expects stock performance to remain divergent in the second half of the year, primarily driven by balance sheet resilience. Large banks remain its top preference, with a favorable view on China Construction Bank (0939.HK) and Bank of China (3988.HK). The firm maintains its 'Buy' rating on China Merchants Bank (3968.HK) but has lowered its net profit forecasts for 2026 and 2027 by 2% each, citing concerns over whether asset quality can improve. Goldman Sachs forecasts that, on average, the banks under its coverage will report year-over-year growth of 5% in pre-provision operating profit and 3% in net profit for the second quarter, with large banks continuing to
The public fund custody landscape is being reshuffled, with the long-standing market leader dethroned—broad-based index funds are the driving force behind this shift.
① China Construction Bank (CCB) surpassed Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in custody assets under management with RMB 4.89 trillion, leading by approximately RMB 78.2 billion. ② ICBC experienced significant redemptions from several large-cap broad-based ETFs, causing a notable decline in its custody scale. ③ CCB demonstrated stronger capacity to absorb newly launched funds this year, with 'Longying FOF' contributing nearly RMB 10 billion.
Citi expects Chinese banks’ second-quarter revenue to rise 6.8% year-over-year, maintaining a positive outlook on large and regional banks.
Citi published a report forecasting that the covered Chinese banks will maintain resilient revenue growth in the second quarter of 2026, with year-over-year revenue growth expected at 6.8%, down from 7.4% in the first quarter of 2026, primarily due to a high base effect from trading gains. Second-quarter revenue growth is expected to be supported by several factors, including still-robust year-over-year growth in corporate loans—albeit slightly slower than in the first quarter—stabilizing net interest margins on a sequential basis, and strong growth in fee income. The bank expects asset quality among Chinese banks to remain stable in the second quarter of 2026; however, Chinese banks are likely to build additional loan loss provisions amid strong revenue growth as a precautionary measure, resulting in an estimated year-over-year earnings growth of 2%.