Hong Kong banks’ profit growth slows as rising bad debts offset wealth-management income

South China Morning PostEN 1 min read 100% complete by Enoch YiuFebruary 12, 2026 at 09:31 AM

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Hong Kong's retail banks experienced a slowdown in pre-tax profit growth in 2024, reaching 7.3%, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. This is a decrease compared to the 8.4% growth in 2023. The reduced profit growth is attributed to rising bad debts and a narrower net interest margin, which counteracted increased income from wealth-management services. The increase in bad debts is linked to struggles in the commercial real estate sectors in both Hong Kong and mainland China, with the bad debt ratio reaching 2.01% at the end of 2024. Despite the slowdown, the HKMA maintains that the banking sector remains profitable and meets international requirements.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Arthur Yuen Kwok-hang 60% China ×260% Hong Kong Monetary Authority ×270% Hong Kong ×690%

Keywords

profit growth 90% bad debts 80% retail banks 70% wealth-management income 60% hong kong monetary authority 50% net interest margin 50% capital adequacy ratio 40% commercial real estate 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.20

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Source

South China Morning Post

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90%

Geographic Perspective

Hong Kong

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis.

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profit growth bad debts retail banks wealth-management income hong kong monetary authority net interest margin capital adequacy ratio commercial real estate

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