Increase of 85%! This brokerage firm's net profit hits a 4-year high

Under the dual drivers of a rebound in the capital markets and the company’s strategic transformation, Zhongyuan Securities turned in an impressive 2025 performance. This is also the “answer sheet” from the first year in office of its newly appointed chairman, Zhang Qiuyun.

Recently, Zhongyuan Securities released its 2025 annual report. During the reporting period, the company achieved operating revenue of RMB 1.963 billion, up 40.97% year over year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was RMB 456 million, up significantly 85.41% year over year, reaching the best performance in nearly four years.

Worth noting is that in April last year, Zhang Qiuyun—who had previously been a middle school teacher and later worked at Henan Investment Group and served as a director of Zhongyuan Securities—formally took office as the company’s chairman. This annual report is precisely the first set of annual results she delivered after taking the helm.

Turning Around Performance Slumps

“Timing, geography, and people in the right place,” Zhongyuan Securities has managed to reverse the company’s performance slump in recent years in one fell swoop.

Looking back at the 2025 market environment, major A-share indexes rose across the board. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 18.41% for the full year, the largest increase in nearly six years; the number of newly opened A-share accounts on the Shanghai Stock Exchange reached 27.44 million, up 10% year over year; and the balance of margin financing and securities lending (two-margins) was RMB 2.52 trillion, up 36%.

For the vast majority of brokerages, 2025 was a “harvest year.” Data disclosed by the China Securities Association on March 27 showed that among 150 securities firms, their operating revenue for 2025 was RMB 541.171 billion, up 19.95% year over year; and their net profit was RMB 219.439 billion, up 31.2% year over year.

Zhongyuan Securities was no exception. In 2025, it achieved “double growth” in revenue and profit. Net profit attributable to shareholders surged from RMB 246 million in 2024 to a much higher figure, with an increase of more than 85%. The company said this was mainly due to increases in income from its securities brokerage business, investment business, credit business, and others.

More specifically, the company’s wealth management business actively embraced the “big wealth” era, integrating businesses such as brokerage, asset management, and futures, to build a “Wealth Zhongyuan” service system. During the reporting period, the company’s two-margins scale exceeded RMB 10 billion, and customers’ average daily assets rose 30% compared with the end of the previous year. In terms of proprietary trading, the company adheres to steady operations and dynamically optimizes the equity investment allocation ratio.

From the revenue structure perspective, the wealth management business contributed revenue of RMB 1.056 billion, up 29.59%, making it the company’s largest source of revenue; credit business revenue was RMB 462 million, up 12.21%; and proprietary business revenue was RMB 160 million, turning from negative to positive compared with the same period of the previous year, delivering a major improvement.

In terms of profit distribution, Zhongyuan Securities continued a normalized dividend mechanism of “interim + annual.” Based on interim dividends already distributed of RMB 0.08 per 10 shares (including tax), it plans to further distribute RMB 0.22 per 10 shares (including tax). For the full year, the total expected dividend amount is RMB 139 million, accounting for 30.56% of net profit. The company said this fully demonstrates its sincerity in sharing growth dividends with investors.

Investment Banking Business Still Under Pressure

Although overall performance was strong, some businesses still face challenges.

In 2025, with strong regulatory oversight and cyclical fluctuations, the securities industry’s investment banking business experienced a structural rebound: IPO pacing was optimized and refinancing activity warmed up. M&A restructuring demand in technology, green, and industrial upgrading areas remained active, and some top brokerages’ investment banking businesses recorded significant growth.

However, the financial report shows that in 2025, Zhongyuan Securities’ net fee income from its investment banking business was only RMB 24.28 million, down 56.85% year over year, mainly due to a decrease in income from securities underwriting. In 2024, the company’s net fee income from its investment banking business was RMB 56.27 million, which was already down 38.79% year over year. This means that a full recovery of Zhongyuan Securities’ investment banking business will take time.

Previously, Zhongyuan Securities was suspended from its bond underwriting business from October 17, 2024 to April 16, 2025 due to违规 (non-compliant) conduct in some investment banking activities, with restrictions only being lifted in September 2025. The company’s management previously stated that it would take this as an opportunity to further strengthen the compliance system, and improve execution quality in the investment banking line and the level of internal control.

In addition, Zhongyuan Securities’ credit impairment losses reached RMB 80.76 million, up 307.66% year over year, mainly because, based on the progress in disposing of existing risk-project assets and changes in their value, it made additional provisions for impairment of accounts receivable and debt investment provisions.

Advancing a “Second Start-Up” in an All-Round Way

At the beginning of Zhang Qiuyun’s tenure as chairman of Zhongyuan Securities, the general view from outside the company was that turning around the company’s performance slump was its top priority.

Looking back at Zhongyuan Securities’ performance in recent years: in 2022, net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 107 million, down 79.23% year over year; in 2023, net profit attributable to shareholders rebounded to RMB 212 million; in 2024, amid an overall industry-wide surge, the company’s revenue declined, and net profit only increased slightly by 16.18% to RMB 246 million. In the first quarter of 2025, the company’s performance even dipped at one point.

After Zhang Qiuyun took office as chairman in April 2025, Zhongyuan Securities successfully reversed its performance slump and achieved high growth.

In its annual report, Zhongyuan Securities said that 2025 is the final year of the “14th Five-Year Plan.” The company is anchored in the major requirements of “two highs and four focuses” and has comprehensively planned and advanced a “second start-up.” It will focus on driving three “main engines”: the transformation of wealth management, strengthening investment banking through coordinated synergy, and stabilizing proprietary investment returns. It will also carry out five major initiatives in depth: “characterized development, region-focused cultivation, integrated operations, digital transformation, and tackling weaknesses to close gaps.”

As the only locally incorporated brokerage firm in Henan, Zhongyuan Securities continues to strengthen the function of being a “strategic carrier for the capital market in Henan.” During the reporting period, the company served Henan listed companies, local government platforms, and small and micro enterprises to achieve financing of RMB 11.753 billion; it also continued to provide supervision and guidance to the number of Henan NEEQ (National Equities Exchange and Quotations) listed companies, which has remained ranked first in the province year after year.

Looking ahead to 2026, Zhongyuan Securities said it will, around the “second start-up” strategy, promote wealth management by building core wealth allocation capabilities and improve a customer-value-oriented evaluation mechanism; its proprietary business will scientifically coordinate the allocation of both fixed-income and equity funds and promote the transformation of fixed-income business toward “fixed-income+”; and the investment banking business will closely align with core enterprises such as provincial state-owned enterprises, industrial leading companies, and quality urban investment (chengtou) firms, increasing efforts to expand NEEQ listings, North Exchange IPOs, and M&A restructuring projects.

Editors: Wang Lululu

Layout: Liu Junyu

Proofreading: Wang Zhaocuan