Brokerages' 2025 Annual Net Profit Fully Rebounds; Large, Medium, and Small Institutions Break Through with Segmentation

In the past few days, A-share listed brokerage firms’ 2025 annual reports entered a period of concentrated releases. According to Wind data, as of March 31, when the reporter’s article was filed, 26 listed brokerage firms had already disclosed their 2025 performance. In total, they achieved operating revenue of RMB 440.055 billion, up 11.26%; and attributable net profit of RMB 185.064 billion, up 44.61%.

Looking back at 2025, trading activity in the capital market rebounded significantly, driving the synchronized recovery of multiple businesses including brokerage and proprietary trading, laying the foundation for growth in the securities industry’s performance. Leading brokerages, leveraging their advantages in end-to-end business-chain layouts, generally maintained relatively steady growth. Meanwhile, medium-sized and smaller institutions have been seeking their own differentiated competitive tracks, with a stream of “dark horses” delivering high growth in performance.

8 brokerages with attributable net profit exceeding RMB 10 billion

As of March 31, when the reporter’s article was filed, 26 listed brokerages—including CITIC Securities, Guotai Huarong, Huatai Securities, CICC, and GF Securities—had already disclosed their 2025 annual reports. Against the backdrop of a marked improvement in capital market activity in 2025, the performances of listed brokerages generally showed a growth trend.

Wind data shows that in 2025, the 26 listed brokerages together achieved operating revenue of RMB 440.055 billion, up 11.26% year-on-year from RMB 395.524 billion in 2024; they achieved attributable net profit of RMB 185.064 billion, up 44.61% year-on-year from RMB 127.977 billion in 2024. There were 14 brokerages with operating revenue exceeding RMB 10 billion; in 2024, there were 12. There were 8 brokerages with attributable net profit exceeding RMB 10 billion, also up clearly from 5 in 2024.

Regarding the reasons for the high growth in performance, AVIC Securities analysis said that in 2025, the domestic capital market’s trading activity continued to improve, equity market conditions gradually recovered, and the trading value of the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets increased significantly year-on-year, driving a comprehensive improvement in core business segments for brokerages. Among them, the brokerage business benefited from the expansion of market trading volume, leading to steady growth in commission income; the margin trading and securities lending business saw financing and securities lending balances keep climbing as market risk appetite rebounded, with interest income contributing significantly; and proprietary trading seized the opportunity created by the equity market’s recovery, optimized its investment portfolio, and saw a sharp increase in investment returns, becoming a core driving force behind growth in brokerage performance.

Lu Zuanhui, non-bank chief analyst at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, believes that the high growth in brokerage performance mainly comes from two areas: first, the brokerage and margin trading businesses that are highly related to market trading activity; second, proprietary trading. The market typically ties brokerage performance to trading value and the percentage gains in stock and bond asset prices, so it can forecast their performance prospectively.

Many institutions have optimistic expectations for the securities industry’s performance in 2025 and 2026. Xu Yishan, non-bank chief analyst at Founder Securities, expects that listed brokerages’ 2025主营业务 income will grow 34% year-on-year, and attributable net profit will grow 49% year-on-year. By business segment, brokerage and investment businesses are expected to be the main drivers of growth in brokerage performance.

“The securities sector is seeing three-fold marginal changes improving, and 2026 performance exceeding expectations is worth expecting.” Zhao Ran, chief analyst for non-bank finance and forward-looking research in the research and development department of CICC Investment, said: First, the trend of a significant year-on-year increase in trading activity in the first half is established, and full-year growth may exceed expectations. Second, new account opening data at the beginning of the year was impressive. Concentrated new account openings releasing in volume may be a signal of market sentiment at a temporarily high level, but in the long term, it will build a foundation of incremental capital for A-share a slow bull market, continuously injecting long-term momentum. Third, the marginal expansion of debt-issuance financing by brokerages is expected to drive leverage up and break through the industry’s ROE peak.

JinGuo Securities also said that the volume of trading value from the start of the year to now is expected to support continued growth in brokerages’ performance in the first quarter of 2026—specifically, in January to February 2026, the whole-market daily average trading value of stocks and funds was RMB 3.3 trillion, up 89% year-on-year, and it is expected that brokerage profits will keep growing at a relatively fast pace.

A differentiated competitive landscape is gradually taking shape

Against the backdrop of generally favorable industry conditions, leading brokerages, backed by end-to-end business-chain layouts and core competitive advantages, further strengthened their leading position in the market.

CITIC Securities’ key financial indicators in 2025 hit historic highs. For the full year, it achieved operating revenue of RMB 74.854 billion, up 28.79%; attributable net profit of RMB 30.076 billion, up 38.58%. By end-2025, CITIC Securities’ total assets exceeded RMB 2 trillion, custody of client assets exceeded RMB 1.5 trillion, and asset management scale was about RMB 0.48 trillion; multiple core businesses remained ranked first in the industry.

After completing business integration, Guotai Huarong also delivered an impressive performance. The annual report shows that in 2025, the company achieved operating revenue of RMB 63.107 billion, up 87.4% year-on-year; and attributable net profit of RMB 27.809 billion, up 113.52% year-on-year.

GF Securities also achieved relatively steady growth in 2025 performance. The annual report shows that for the full year, GF Securities achieved operating revenue of RMB 35.493 billion, up 34.33% year-on-year; and net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was RMB 13.702 billion, up 42.18% year-on-year.

While leading brokerages guide industry development, a group of mid-sized and smaller brokerages have been deepening cultivation in niche areas, forming differentiated advantages, with performance elasticity released significantly. Judging from companies that have already released annual reports, many mid-sized and smaller brokerages’ net profit growth rates last year were generally higher than the industry average level, demonstrating the development advantages of “small but excellent” and misaligned competition.

Southwest Securities’ operating performance in 2025 saw leapfrog growth, with core indicators turning broadly positive. The annual report shows that for the full year, the company achieved operating revenue of RMB 3.207 billion, up 25.35% year-on-year; attributable net profit of RMB 1.062 billion, up 51.90% year-on-year. Jiang Donglin, Party Secretary and Chairman of Southwest Securities, said the company is steadily advancing toward its ambition of “leading the Western region, progressing nationwide, and having distinct recognition in Chongqing,” and the company’s 2025 performance reflects strong development momentum.

Mergers and acquisitions also became an important lever for improving quality and efficiency in the 2025 securities industry. In addition to Guotai Huarong, Guolian Minsheng, after completing its restructuring and integration, saw explosive growth in its first full year. In 2025, the company achieved operating revenue of RMB 7.673 billion, up 185.99%; attributable net profit of RMB 2.009 billion, up 405.49%. With coordinated efforts across five major business segments, indicators such as the number of IPO underwriting and sponsorship assignments and the number of projects listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (including New Third Board) ranked among the top in the industry. It successfully obtained multiple key business qualifications, confirming the strategic value of mergers and acquisitions.

Industry development momentum strengthens

Currently, securities firms’ net profits are growing day by day and have reached the RMB 220 billion threshold. The China Securities Association’s latest release of 2025 operating data for securities companies (based on unaudited financial statements) shows that 150 securities firms achieved operating revenue of RMB 541.171 billion in 2025, and net profit of RMB 219.439 billion in 2025.

From different business lines, in 2025 securities firms recorded net revenue from brokerage of buy and sell securities (including transaction unit seat leasing) of RMB 163.796 billion; net revenue from securities underwriting and sponsorship business of RMB 33.711 billion; net revenue from financial advisory business of RMB 5.784 billion; net revenue from investment consulting business of RMB 7.694 billion; net revenue from asset management business of RMB 23.887 billion; net interest income of RMB 64.687 billion; and securities investment returns (including fair value changes) of RMB 185.324 billion.

In fact, securities investment returns have become an important pillar supporting securities firms’ business revenue. Also, according to statistics from the CSRC Securities Association, as of December 31, 2025, 150 securities firms entrusted and managed total principal funds of RMB 0.953 trillion.

With the continued deepening of capital market reforms, institutions believe that the leading role of top brokerages will become even more prominent. Mergers and acquisitions will still be an important path for industry integration, while mid-sized and smaller brokerages need to keep making sustained efforts along differentiated and specialized routes.

Tian Liang, chief analyst for the financial industrial sector at CITIC Securities, said that during the “14th Five-Year Plan’s second stage to the 15th Five-Year Plan period” (“Fifteenth Five-Year Plan” / “十五五”), the securities industry landscape is expected to be reshaped in depth, driving the industry toward misaligned development. Brokerages are expected to achieve their long-term development through internal growth and mergers and acquisitions. Asset allocation, comprehensive services, and internationalization capabilities are expected to become decisive factors for differentiation in the industry.

AVIC Securities believes that under the policy-driven trend toward high-quality development of the securities industry, mergers and acquisitions are an effective tool for brokerages to realize expansion beyond their core boundaries. Mergers and acquisitions can positively contribute to improving the overall competitiveness of the industry, optimizing resource allocation, and promoting healthy market development. At the same time, industry integration helps increase industry concentration and form economies of scale.