(Yicai) Jan. 20 -- Chinese urban commercial lender Bank of Guangzhou withdrew its initial public offering application after nearly five years of trying.

Bank of Guangzhou terminated its IPO application with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange after its main sponsor pulled back, according to an exchange filing issued on Jan. 17. The lender initially planned to raise CNY9.5 billion (USD1.3 billion).

There has not been a single bank IPO in the Chinese mainland stock market since Bank of Lanzhou went public in January 2022. Meanwhile, three lenders withdrew their applications last year alone, with six others awaiting approval.

Founded in 1996, Bank of Guangzhou is majority owned by the southern Chinese city’s state-owned capital. It first submitted its IPO prospectus to the China Securities Regulatory Commission in June 2020. The listing’s last update was in March 2023, when the application was passed to the SZSE after the implementation of the registration-based IPO system.

Chinese banks’ net income has been generally declining because the People’s Bank of China lowered interest rates several times to stimulate the economy after the Covid-19 pandemic. Bank of Guangzhou is one of the lenders facing operating pressure.

Bank of Guangzhou’s net profit shrank 10 percent to CNY3 billion in 2023 from the previous year, down for the third consecutive year, according to the company’s latest annual earnings report. Its revenue fell 7 percent to CNY16 billion (USD2.2 billion) in the period.

As of Dec. 31, 2023, Bank of Guangzhou had total assets of CNY831.7 billion (USD113.7 billion), with 184 operational branches.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione