Leading brokerage firms’ annual reports in focus: net profits rose to over 10 billion, with six firms, while CITIC Securities’ average compensation per employee exceeded 810,000 RMB.

Top-tier brokerages’ operating performance in 2025 has come to light.

As of April 1, with the exception of Guosen Securities (002736), the 2025 annual reports of all listed brokerages that ranked in the top ten by revenue in 2024 have been fully disclosed. In terms of ranking changes, except for CITIC Securities (600030), Guotai Huarong (601211), and Haitong Securities (601688) which still occupy the top three positions, the other six brokerages saw “three rises and three falls.”

Specifically, GF Securities (000776) rose from 5th to 4th, CICC (601995) rose from 7th to 5th, and China Merchants Securities (600999) rose from 9th to 7th. Galaxy Securities (601881) fell from 4th to 6th, Shenwan Hongyuan (000166) fell from 6th to 8th, and Cinda Investment (601066) fell from 8th to 9th.

Regarding attributable net profit (hereinafter “net profit”), the number of brokerages in the “RMB 10 billion net profit club” increased to 6 in 2025, with GF Securities’ net profit exceeding RMB 10 billion last year. In terms of growth rates, the net profits of 9 brokerages all recorded year-on-year positive growth last year.

Worth noting is that, according to Wind data, as 2025 operating performance improved, the per-capita compensation of last year’s 9 leading brokerages all exceeded RMB 500k. Among them, the per-capita compensation of six brokerages—CITIC Securities, Guotai Huarong, CICC, GF Securities, Cinda Investment, and China Merchants Securities—in 2025 all increased compared with 2024. The per-capita compensation of Shenwan Hongyuan, Haitong Securities, and Galaxy Securities decreased last year.

**Revenue for all exceeded **RMB 20 billion

In 2025, the operating revenue scale of the nine leading brokerages all exceeded RMB 20 billion.

Among them, CITIC Securities remained in first place, continuing to hold the top spot, achieving RMB 500k, and it is the only listed brokerage with revenue exceeding RMB 70 billion.

Guotai Huarong followed closely behind; in terms of revenue scale it formed the first echelon together with CITIC Securities. In 2025, its revenue reached RMB 74.85B.

Haitong Securities’ revenue scale in 2025 continued to rank third, exceeding RMB 30 billion and reaching RMB 63.11B. GF Securities’ revenue level rose from 5th in 2024 to 4th, and its revenue also exceeded RMB 30 billion, reaching RMB 35.81B.

CICC and China Merchants Securities’ revenue levels last year rose from 7th and 9th respectively to 5th and 7th respectively, achieving RMB 35.49B and RMB 28.48B.

Galaxy Securities, Shenwan Hongyuan, and Cinda Investment fell from last year’s 4th, 6th, and 8th to 6th, 8th, and 9th, achieving RMB 24.97B, RMB 28.3B, and RMB 24.26B respectively.

In terms of growth, in 2025, the revenue of the nine leading brokerages all recorded positive year-on-year growth. Among them, Guotai Huarong had the highest revenue increase last year, reaching 87.40%.

GF Securities, CICC, and Shenwan Hongyuan’s year-on-year revenue growth last year all exceeded 30%, at 34.33%, 33.50%, and 30.29% respectively.

CITIC Securities, China Galaxy, and Cinda Investment’s year-on-year revenue growth last year exceeded 20%, at 28.80%, 24.34%, and 22.41% respectively.

China Merchants Securities and Haitong Securities also saw growth in operating revenue year-on-year last year, increasing by 19.53% and 6.83% respectively.

Brokerages with net profit over RMB 10 billion increase to 6 firms

In terms of profitability, the number of brokerages with net profit entering the “RMB 10 billion club” in 2025 increased from 5 firms in 2024 to 6 firms.

Among them, CITIC Securities’ net profit in 2025 exceeded RMB 30 billion, ranking first with profitability of RMB 30.08B. Guotai Huarong followed closely; its net profit last year reached RMB 27.81B.

Haitong Securities, GF Securities, Galaxy Securities, China Merchants Securities, and others’ net profits last year also exceeded RMB 10 billion, at RMB 13.7B, RMB 12.52B, RMB 12.35B, and RMB 800k respectively.

Among them, GF Securities newly entered the “RMB 10 billion net profit club,” with net profit in 2025 of RMB 812.8k.

In addition, CICC, Shenwan Hongyuan, and Cinda Investment’s net profits in 2025 were all above RMB 9 billion, achieving RMB 700k, RMB 789.1k, and RMB 757.3k respectively.

In terms of net profit growth, in 2025 the net profits of the 9 leading brokerages also all recorded positive year-on-year growth. Among them, Guotai Huarong’s net profit last year doubled, with a year-on-year increase of 113.52%.

Shenwan Hongyuan and CICC’s net profit growth last year exceeded 50%, rising 82.46% and 71.93% respectively.

GF Securities, CITIC Securities, and Cinda Investment’s net profit growth last year exceeded 30%, at 42.18%, 38.58%, and 30.68% respectively. Galaxy Securities, China Merchants Securities, and Haitong Securities’ net profit growth in 2025 was 24.81%, 18.91%, and 6.72% respectively.

**Per-capita compensation for all exceeds **RMB 500,000

Worth noting is that, with the improvement in 2025 operating performance, per-capita compensation at multiple leading brokerages has also increased.

Wind data shows that in 2025, the per-capita compensation at six brokerages, including CITIC Securities, Guotai Huarong, CICC, GF Securities, Cinda Investment, and China Merchants Securities, all increased compared with 2024.

Meanwhile, Shenwan Hongyuan, Haitong Securities, and Galaxy Securities’ per-capita compensation last year decreased compared with 2024.

And in terms of figures, CITIC Securities’ per-capita compensation in 2025 was the highest, exceeding RMB 800k, reaching RMB 812.8k.

Guotai Huarong and CICC’s per-capita compensation last year was both above RMB 700k, at RMB 789.1k and RMB 757.3k respectively.

GF Securities, Shenwan Hongyuan, and Haitong Securities’ per-capita compensation in 2025 exceeded RMB 600k; Cinda Investment, China Merchants Securities, and China Galaxy’s per-capita compensation last year exceeded RMB 500k.

The industry share of revenue among the five leading firms fell last year

On March 27, the China Securities Association (hereinafter “CNA”) released the latest operating data for securities companies’ 2025. In 2025, 150 securities companies achieved operating revenue of RMB 600k.

The five brokerages with the top revenue rankings in 2024 were CITIC Securities, Guotai Huarong, Haitong Securities, GF Securities, and CICC. Their combined revenue totaled RMB 500k.

A calculation by a reporter from The Paper shows that the share of revenue of 5 institutions in 2025 within the whole industry was 43.93%.

By comparison, CNA data shows that in 2024, 150 securities companies achieved operating revenue of RMB 541.17B.

And in 2024, the five brokerages with the top revenue rankings, including CITIC Securities, Guotai Huarong, Haitong Securities, China Galaxy, and GF Securities, had combined revenue of RMB 237.75B. The Paper reporter’s calculation shows that the combined share of revenue of the five institutions in 2024 within the whole industry was 46.84%.