Bulletin: Bank of China Pivots Back Home Amid Global Uncertainties

SINGAPORE (S&P Global Ratings) March 30, 2022--Bank of China Ltd. (BOC) is turning to its domestic business amid global uncertainties from an omicron surge and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. We expect accommodative economic policies in China and further traction in the bank's wealth-management business to support growth this year. Stimulative economic policies at home will help BOC (A/Stable/A-1) expand its mainland loans this year. This will likely offset renewed pressure on net interest margin (NIM) after China cut interest rates to support its economy. The bank's net interest income was up 2.2% in 2021, driven by loan growth of 10.5% that negated a NIM contraction of 10 basis points. Overseas loans grew 1.5%, slower than domestic loan growth of 12.6%, reversing

...March 29, 2022 SINGAPORE (S&P Global Ratings) March 30, 2022--Bank of China Ltd. (BOC) is turning to its domestic business amid global uncertainties from an omicron surge and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. We expect accommodative economic policies in China and further traction in the bank's wealth-management business to support growth this year. Stimulative economic policies at home will help BOC (A/Stable/A-1) expand its mainland loans this year. This will likely offset renewed pressure on net interest margin (NIM) after China cut interest rates to support its economy. The bank's net interest income was up 2.2% in 2021, driven by loan growth of 10.5% that negated a NIM contraction of 10 basis points. Overseas loans grew 1.5%, slower than domestic loan growth of 12.6%, reversing the trend of faster growth in overseas markets in the first half of 2021. Further traction in the bank's wealth-management business will support its revenue growth. Revenue grew 6.7% in 2021, helped by a jump in fees...

Bulletin