Bulletin: Pressure On China Merchants Bank's Asset Quality And Capitalization Has Increased; Ratings Unaffected

HONG KONG (Standard&Poor's) March 20, 2015--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its rating on China Merchants Bank Co. Ltd. (CMB: BBB+/Stable/A-2; cnA+/cnA-1) is unaffected by the bank's financial performance in 2014. The China-based midsize bank continues to benefit from a moderately high likelihood of government support due to its moderate systemic importance. However, we believe the bank's continuous growth and deteriorating loan quality could increase pressure on its 'bbb' stand-alone credit profile. CMB's net profit rose 8.06% to Chinese renminbi (RMB) 55.9 billion, which is slightly better than what we have factored into our ratings. A significant increase in non-interest income, driven by commissions from custodian services, trustee business, bank card fees, and agency services fees,

...HONG KONG (Standard & Poor's) March 20, 2015--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that its rating on China Merchants Bank Co. Ltd. (CMB: ###+/Stable/A-2; cnA+/cnA-1) is unaffected by the bank's financial performance in 2014. The China-based midsize bank continues to benefit from a moderately high likelihood of government support due to its moderate systemic importance. However, we believe the bank's continuous growth and deteriorating loan quality could increase pressure on its '###' stand-alone credit profile. CMB's net profit rose 8.06% to Chinese renminbi (RMB) 55.9 billion, which is slightly better than what we have factored into our ratings. A significant increase in non-interest income, driven by commissions from custodian services, trustee business, bank card fees, and agency services fees, supported the bank's profitability. CMB's growth in total loans (17.81%) and assets (14.42%) is broadly in line with our expectations. Its unconsolidated non-principal-guaranteed wealth...

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