ZYBANK (01216.HK), the largest city commercial bank in Henan Province by assets, has undergone significant leadership changes, with both its Chairman and President being replaced on the same day. The bank recently announced that Chairman Guo Hao has resigned due to a work reassignment. The board of directors has elected Vice Chairman and President Zhou Feng as the new Chairman. Concurrently, the board has approved the appointment of Zhang Tao as the new President, pending regulatory approval for his qualification.

Observations indicate a pattern of frequent changes in ZYBANK's senior management in recent years. Zhou Feng will become the bank's fourth Chairman since its establishment, following the successive dismissals of its first Chairman, Dou Rongxing, and second Chairman, Xu Nuojin. Zhang Tao is set to become the bank's fourth President in nearly four years.

Regarding asset quality, ZYBANK faces challenges including a high non-performing loan (NPL) ratio and rising risks in its real estate and personal consumption loan portfolios. Furthermore, since its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2021, the bank's performance in the capital markets has room for improvement.

Guo Hao, the third Chairman who resigned due to work reassignment, previously held positions such as Deputy Director of the Henan Provincial Government Financial Services Office and Deputy Secretary-General of the Provincial Government. In December 2017, he became Vice Mayor and Acting Mayor of Hebi City, being elected Mayor in January the following year. He received regulatory approval to serve as Chairman of ZYBANK in June 2023 until his recent resignation.

Zhou Feng, who has been promoted to Chairman, had served as President for less than half a year. He was appointed President in October 2025, received regulatory approval for the role at the end of December, and will now become the fourth Chairman.

Zhang Tao, who will succeed Zhou Feng as President, previously had a long tenure within the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China system. After the establishment of the Henan Rural Commercial Union Bank in 2023, Zhang Tao served as a Party Committee Member and Vice President. Following the reorganization and establishment of the new Henan Rural Commercial Bank in 2025, he held the position of Standing Committee Member of the Party Committee and Vice President.

With this appointment, Zhang Tao becomes the fourth President at ZYBANK in nearly four years. After the former President Wang Jiong resigned in August 2022, Liu Kai succeeded him. Over three years later, Zhou Feng replaced Liu Kai as President in October 2025.

ZYBANK was established in December 2014 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in July 2017. Following the absorption and merger of Luoyang Bank, Pingdingshan Bank, and Jiaozuo China Travel Bank in 2022, the bank experienced substantial asset growth, surpassing the one trillion yuan mark to become the first city commercial bank in Henan with assets exceeding one trillion yuan. As of the end of 2025, the bank's total assets were approximately 1.41 trillion yuan.

Industry insiders suggest that frequent changes in ZYBANK's core management in recent years, coupled with the debt integration pressures resulting from the 2022 absorption of three city commercial banks, have impacted the bank's performance stability, asset quality, strategy execution, and capital market performance.

At the overall performance level, despite the significant scale increase from the 2022 mergers, ZYBANK's revenue and net profit did not achieve rapid growth in the subsequent years. Between 2023 and 2025, the bank's revenues were 24.291 billion yuan, 23.451 billion yuan, and 26.507 billion yuan, respectively. Net profits were 3.206 billion yuan, 3.470 billion yuan, and 3.576 billion yuan, respectively, indicating relatively slow average growth that lags behind peers with assets over one trillion yuan during the same period.

Furthermore, ZYBANK's business structure remains highly reliant on net interest income, which accounted for as much as 85% in 2025. Non-interest income constitutes a smaller proportion, with investment income performing poorly, declining by 13.9% year-on-year in 2025, indicating a need to strengthen growth resilience.

A source familiar with ZYBANK stated that frequent executive turnover in recent years has somewhat led to deviations in strategic continuity and implementation. Key initiatives such as retail transformation, technology finance, and risk resolution have progressed relatively slowly. Compounded by legacy risks, including non-performing assets acquired through mergers and accumulating new risks, the efficiency of risk disposal needs improvement. The bank has previously transferred non-performing assets at steep discounts as low as 0.5% of their value, resulting in certain profit losses.

While ZYBANK's asset quality showed an improving trend post-merger, its overall NPL ratio remains high. As of the end of 2025, the bank's NPL ratio was 1.96%. Although this marks a third consecutive annual decline since 2023, it is still higher than the average NPL ratio of 1.82% for city commercial banks during the same period.

Additionally, as of the end of 2025, ZYBANK's outstanding non-performing loans remained substantial at 14.39 billion yuan, posing significant disposal challenges. Special mention loans reached 24.043 billion yuan, an increase of 1.04 billion yuan from the end of the previous year, with the ratio rising to 3.28%. The increase in this category signals potential credit risks that require close monitoring to prevent a large-scale migration of these loans into the non-performing category.

Within ZYBANK's business segments, risks are primarily concentrated in real estate and personal loans. As of the end of 2025, the bank's non-performing loans in the real estate sector increased by 229 million yuan from the end of the previous year to 1.473 billion yuan. The NPL ratio for real estate rose by 1.47 percentage points to 5.89%, making it the business segment with the highest NPL ratio.

Asset quality in the personal loan sector also requires urgent improvement. As of the end of 2025, the NPL ratio for personal consumption loans was 3.39%, while the credit card NPL ratio was significantly higher at 5.31%. The outstanding balance of non-performing personal loans reached 7.65 billion yuan, accounting for 53.16% of the bank's total non-performing loans, indicating that personal lending has become a core risk exposure.

Amid pressures on earnings growth, risks emerging from the personal loan business, and the need for improved capital market performance, the market will closely watch whether ZYBANK's new leadership can effectively address existing risks, rebuild growth momentum, and restore market confidence.