8 brokerages join the "100 Billion Net Profit Club," marking a historic expansion

AI Q&A · In the “two superpowers and many strong players” landscape among top brokerages, what opportunities does rising industry concentration bring?

China Finance News (3月31日) News, by reporter Gao Yanyun Based on the latest performance disclosures, the 2025 “billion-yuan net profit club” for brokerages has expanded historically.

As of March 31, seven brokerages have already reported 2025 attributable net profits exceeding 10 billion yuan. Although Guosen Securities’ annual report has not yet been released, a breakthrough of 10 billion net profit is a sure thing—meaning that the number of brokerages with 10 billion yuan net profits has risen from 5 in 2024 to 8, further showcasing the strong growth momentum of “giants dancing.”

The eight brokerages with 10 billion yuan net profits are: CITIC Securities (30.08B yuan), Guotai Junan & Haitong (27.81B yuan), Huatai Securities (16.38B yuan), GF Securities (13.7B yuan), China Galaxy Securities (12.52 billion yuan), China Merchants Securities (12.35 billion yuan), Shenwan Hongyuan Securities (136.53B yuan), and Guosen Securities (to be announced).

CITIC’s profit is roughly equal to the combined total of Huatai and GF

In addition, China International Capital Corporation (CICC) (3.52B yuan) and CICC?—and CITIC? Construction Investment? (63.11B yuan) are also just one step away from the 10 billion yuan threshold. Although Guosen Securities has not disclosed full-year data, its attributable net profit for the first three quarters has already reached 11.3B yuan; a full-year breakthrough past 10 billion yuan is a sure thing.

Benefiting from an active market, the above top brokerages maintained rapid growth in their performance last year. Combining the non-recurring items factor, the non-recurring net profits of the 9 brokerages above total approximately 15.14B yuan year over year, up 49.84%.

The specific performances of the 9 top brokerages are as follows:

CITIC Securities’ 2025 attributable net profit increased 38.58% year over year, and its non-recurring net profit was 30.3 billion yuan, up 40.51% year over year;

Guotai Junan & Haitong’s non-recurring net profit was 21.39 billion yuan, up 71.93% year over year;

Huatai Securities’ non-recurring net profit was 16.27 billion yuan, up 80.08% year over year;

GF Securities’ non-recurring net profit was 14.26 billion yuan, up 59.93% year over year;

China Galaxy Securities’ non-recurring net profit was 12.52 billion yuan, up 25.28% year over year;

China Merchants Securities’ non-recurring net profit was 12.3 billion yuan, up 18.52% year over year;

Shenwan Hongyuan Securities’ attributable net profit was 14.75B yuan, up 67.78% year over year.

CICC’s non-recurring net profit was 8.89B yuan, up 79.73% year over year;

CITIC? Construction Investment? (CITIC? Securities?)’s non-recurring net profit was 8.85B yuan, up 30.77% year over year.

From the overall pattern, the “two superpowers and many strong players” stance in the industry has become increasingly stable. “The two superpowers” refer to CITIC Securities and Guotai Junan & Haitong after consolidation; both are far ahead in revenue and net profit.

CITIC Securities’ net profit scale is approximately the combined net profit of the third-placed Huatai Securities and the fourth-placed GF Securities. Its revenue is more than the sum of the two by 6.17B yuan—while the gap is only 4.98%, the absolute difference is relatively large.

Guotai Junan & Haitong’s revenue scale is 6.34B yuan, which is 5.03B yuan more than the combined revenue of CICC and CITIC? Construction Investment?—about 21.82% more. With consolidation effects, Guotai Junan & Haitong has demonstrated strong competitiveness across multiple business lines.

Brokerage: Guotai Junan & Haitong and CITIC—neck and neck

Brokerage business has achieved an across-the-board recovery. In total, the net revenue from brokerage for the 9 top brokerages above in 2025 was 86.31 billion yuan, up 47.39% year over year.

The consolidation effect of “Guotai Junan + Haitong Securities” is evident. Guotai Junan & Haitong ranks first in the net revenue from brokerage; its brokerage net revenue was 4.66B yuan, up 93.01% year over year.

Right behind is CITIC Securities, with revenue of 3.13B yuan. Guotai Junan & Haitong and CITIC Securities have widened a larger gap versus other top brokerages in brokerage business.

The ones following in ranking are, respectively: GF Securities (3.1B yuan), Huatai Securities (1.22B yuan), China Merchants Securities (1.03B yuan), China Galaxy (884M yuan), CITIC? Construction Investment? (7.97 billion yuan), CICC (898M yuan), and Shenwan Hongyuan Securities (5.82 billion yuan).

Except for Guotai Junan & Haitong, the gaps in the growth rates of brokerage net revenue among other top brokerages are not large, with growth rates all around the 40% range. Specifically: CITIC Securities (37.72%), GF Securities (44.32%), Huatai Securities (41.50%), China Merchants Securities (43.82%), China Galaxy (42.94%), CITIC? Construction Investment? (37.01%), CICC (44.75%), and Shenwan Hongyuan Securities (30.63%).

Investment banking: CITIC Securities leads with a clear gap

The total investment banking business revenue of the 9 brokerages above was 26.21 billion yuan, up 45.76% year over year. CITIC Securities ranks first, with investment banking net revenue of 33.09B yuan. CICC and Guotai Junan & Haitong rank second and third; the gap between their investment banking net revenues is small, at 12.18B yuan and 7.7B yuan, respectively. In the third tier are CITIC? Construction Investment? (6.39B yuan) and Huatai Securities (1.8B yuan).

The others are Shenwan Hongyuan Securities (1.58B yuan), China Merchants Securities (1.35B yuan), GF Securities (873M yuan), China Galaxy (0.83 billion yuan). These four brokerages have a relatively large gap in investment banking revenue versus other top brokerages. In addition, “investment-banking dark horse” Guolian Minsheng’s investment banking net revenue is 703M yuan, higher than GF Securities and China Galaxy.

Above the average growth rate are CITIC Securities (52.35%), CICC (62.57%), Guotai Junan & Haitong (59.39%), and Huatai Securities (47.8%). The others are CITIC? Construction Investment? (25.65%), Shenwan Hongyuan Securities (24.33%), China Merchants Securities (20.01%), GF Securities (13.60%), and China Galaxy (36.82%).

Asset management: CITIC is dominant; GF and Guotai Junan & Haitong follow closely

The total net asset management revenue of the 9 brokerages above was 517M yuan, up 10.50% year over year. If the statistical coverage factor caused by Huatai Securities’ sale of an overseas asset management platform is excluded, the average growth rate of top brokerages’ net asset management revenue should be about 21.29%.

In the comparison of net asset management revenue, CITIC Securities also widens a large gap versus other brokerages, but its growth rate is slightly lower than the industry’s average growth rate. CITIC Securities’ net asset management revenue in 2025 was 2.36B yuan, up 15.9% year over year.

In addition, GF Securities’ asset management business performed outstandingly, ranking second, with revenue of 783M yuan; next is Guotai Junan & Haitong, with net asset management revenue of 558M yuan.

The others are Huatai Securities (149.62B yuan), CICC (38.6B yuan), CITIC? Construction Investment? (25.4B yuan), China Merchants Securities (14.2B yuan), Shenwan Hongyuan Securities (13.83B yuan), and China Galaxy (13.61B yuan).

It is worth noting that, based on the brokerage data disclosed so far, Zhongtai Securities, Oriental Securities, and Everbright Securities exceed part of the top brokerages mentioned above. Their relevant net revenues are 13.12B yuan, 1.35 billion yuan, and 0.9 billion yuan, respectively. Guolian Minsheng (12.38B yuan) and Huai’an Securities (8.69B yuan) are higher than China Galaxy.

The year-over-year growth rates of the above brokerages’ net asset management revenue are: CITIC Securities (15.90%), GF Securities (11.88%), Guotai Junan & Haitong (64.25%), Huatai Securities (-56.64%), CICC (30.84%), CITIC? Construction Investment? (0.15%), China Merchants Securities (21.72%), Shenwan Hongyuan Securities (-7.71%), and China Galaxy (6.67%).

Proprietary trading: 7 brokerages’ proprietary trading income exceeds 10 billion yuan

Brokerages’ generally high growth in 2025 performance mainly benefited from standout contributions from proprietary trading business. Against the backdrop of rising market indexes, top brokerages, leveraging strong capital strength, reaped substantial gains from proprietary investments. The total proprietary trading income of the 9 brokerages above in 2025 was 149.622 billion yuan, up 33.56% year over year.

Proprietary trading business contributes prominently to brokerages’ net profits, and the proprietary trading income generated by top brokerages often reaches the 10 billion yuan level. CITIC Securities’ proprietary trading income was 38.604 billion yuan, which is close to the sum of the second and third-ranked brokerages. Guotai Junan & Haitong’s proprietary trading income was 25.404 billion yuan, which also creates a significant gap versus other brokerages.

Brokerages whose proprietary trading income reached the 10 billion yuan level also include CICC (14.201 billion yuan), Huatai Securities (13.829 billion yuan), Shenwan Hongyuan Securities (13.613 billion yuan), China Galaxy (13.116 billion yuan), and GF Securities (12.378 billion yuan).

In addition, there are two brokerages whose proprietary trading income is relatively close to the 10 billion yuan level: China Merchants Securities (9.785 billion yuan) and CITIC? Construction Investment? (8.691 billion yuan).

The year-over-year growth rates of the above brokerages’ proprietary trading income are: CITIC Securities (46.53%), Guotai Junan & Haitong (72.01%), CICC (40.32%), Huatai Securities (-4.63%), Shenwan Hongyuan Securities (39.21%), China Galaxy (14.02%), GF Securities (59.64%), China Merchants Securities (2.70%), CITIC? Construction Investment? (12.47%),

Top brokerages show a clear advantage in net capital available for proprietary trading, and the investment proportion is also relatively high. For example, CITIC Securities’ announcement shows that the total combined amount of its 2026 proprietary investments in equity securities and their derivatives will not exceed 100% of its net capital scale; the total combined amount of its proprietary investments in non-equity securities and their derivatives will not exceed 500% of its net capital scale. For other brokerages, the proportions for the two figures above are mostly around 80% and 400%.

Sell-side: Resources are accelerating toward top brokerages

With top brokerages leading both performance and the industry, an industry research note from AVIC Securities suggests that brokerage business benefits from the expansion of market trading volumes, driving steady growth in commission income; margin financing and securities lending business rises as market risk appetite recovers, with financing and securities lending balances continuing to climb, and interest income contributing significantly. Proprietary trading business, meanwhile, seizes the opportunity of the rebound in equity markets, optimizes investment portfolios, greatly improves investment returns, and becomes the core driver pushing brokerage performance growth.

Overall, the 2025 performance data clearly shows that under the trend of policy encouraging industry consolidation and high-quality development, resources are accelerating toward top brokerages. Whether in capital strength, business diversification, or resilience to risk, the advantages of top brokerages are continuing to expand, and the rise in industry concentration is evident.

(China Finance News reporter Gao Yanyun)