After four changes in chairman over six years, with Zhou Lei at the helm, can Dongfang Securities' high dividends restore shareholder confidence?

（Source: Lingjing）

■ 2025 record high net profit attributable to shareholders

■ Zhou Lei appointed as Executive Director and Chairman of Orient Securities

■ Not just profit growth—what makes shareholders happiest is the high dividend

Author | Wen Zhe
Editor | Chen Qiu
Lingjing ID: DMS-012

Buoyed by the bull market in 2025 and management measures such as optimizing the layout of branch institutions, Orient Securities’ net profit attributable to shareholders reached a new high in a decade, and the dividend payout ratio rose in parallel.

However, some business lines dragged down overall performance, leaving room for further improvement in the competitiveness and market share of the Hong Kong equity investment banking business. Since the company’s valuation is relatively low right now, a high dividend will significantly boost shareholders’ confidence.

Net profit hits a new high in 10 years

Hong Kong equity business needs breakthroughs

The bull market in 2025 finally gave securities firms a “fat year,” with profits surging across the board. In 2025, Orient Securities achieved operating revenue of RMB 15.36B, up 26.18% year on year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was RMB 5.63B, up sharply 68.16% year on year; and net profit attributable to shareholders excluding non-recurring items was RMB 5.51B, up 69.85% year on year. Net profit attributable to shareholders reached a new high since the end of the 2015 bull market.

Across each business segment, the wealth management and asset management business achieved operating revenue of RMB 6.99B, up 31.32%. Investment banking and alternative investment business revenue was RMB 1.61B, up 18%. But international and other business revenue was RMB 1.95 billion, down 36% year on year. The annual report also shows “internationalization-related business income increased year on year,” so “other business” may be the main drag factor.

Orient International is Orient Securities’ international business platform, under which are subsidiaries holding licenses issued by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. The annual report shows that in 2025, the company’s equity investment banking business completed a Hong Kong IPO for “Shanghai Ayi,” and the total underwriting and selling amount for Hong Kong-listed IPOs rose 1.2 times year on year. It needs to be explained that in 2024, the fundraising amount of Hong Kong IPOs was HKD 88.15B, and in 2025 it grew to HKD 285.69B, up 224% year on year compared with 2024. Orient International’s underwriting growth rate for Hong Kong IPOs lagged behind the market average.

2025 annual report

Moreover, as a tea beverage enterprise in the new consumer track, “Shanghai Ayi” raised about HKD 273 million in its Hong Kong IPO, which is not outstanding in the hot Hong Kong market of 2025.

Meanwhile, many securities firms saw a big increase in their Hong Kong business revenue. Guotai Junan International, one of the key international platforms under Guotai Huarong, a leading securities firm headquartered in Shanghai, saw 2025 revenue rise 115% year on year; net profit increased from RMB 320 million to RMB 1.23B, an increase of more than 280%.

4th term chairman, April 6

On the evening of March 20 this year, Orient Securities announced that Zhou Lei officially took on the roles of Executive Director and Chairman of Orient Securities (legal representative), as well as a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee.

Born in 1978, Zhou Lei is at the prime working age and is expected to bring new ideas to Orient Securities’ business operations and management.

It should be noted that public information shows Zhou Lei had been General Manager of Aijian Trust since 2014, when he was only 36—one of the youngest general managers in the trust industry at the time.

2025 annual report

This is the fourth chairman appointment for Orient Securities since 2020: Pan Xinjun, Jin Zhongzhong, Gong Dexiong, and Zhou Lei, respectively. By contrast, Guotai Huarong in Shanghai has gone through four chairmen—Wan Jianhua, Yang Dehong, He Qing, and Zhu Jian—since 2015. A relatively stable organizational structure is more conducive for a securities firm to maintain strategic and operational stability, and reduces costs related to management coordination.

As for the president, in 2022 Orient Securities’ then-president Jin Zhongzhong was appointed solely as chairman. He has also served as Chairman of the underwriting and sponsorship board of Orient Securities, with deep industry experience and management experience in investment banking. Lu Weiming, who took over as president, has long been engaged in fixed-income businesses, and in December 2024 he no longer served as president. At the end of 2024, Vice President Lu Dayin began to preside over the president’s work. He has long been responsible for Orient Securities’ information and IT construction, served as the company’s Chief Information Officer from November 2021 to January 2025, and also previously served as Deputy General Manager of the brokerage business headquarters—this is a relatively rare case where an information-business executive becomes the top executive of a securities firm.

Next, the focus of all parties will be on the formal appointment of the new president. Currently, Vice President Lu Dayin has been presiding over the work for more than a year. Will Vice President Lu be “confirmed,” or is there someone else?

9 fewer branch offices

The high-wealth strategy accelerates optimization

In the brokerage business, last year Orient Securities carried out significant adjustments to departments and branch institutions. The 2024 annual report shows that at end-2024, Orient Securities had 179 branches under its umbrella; by end-2025, this was reduced to 170, a relatively large optimization. In the years before that, Orient Securities’ branch institutions had consistently remained at 179. Therefore, the strong withdrawal of branches in 2025 highlights a strong strategic adjustment.

Specifically by province and city, last year Orient Securities, on the one hand, reduced branch institutions in northeastern China, North China, and the southwest. The number of Liaoning business offices decreased from 10 to 9; in Shandong, 9 offices were reduced to 8; in Shanxi, 7 to 6; in Guangxi, 1/3 were eliminated, leaving 4 out of 6; in Tianjin, 2 offices eliminated 1, leaving 1 office; and Jilin’s business offices also decreased from 2 to 1.

On the other hand, in Guangdong and Zhejiang, the number of Orient Securities business offices increased from 14 to 15; in Beijing, it rose from 4 to 5; and on the basis of having 5 offices in Fujian, it added 1 more.

The main line behind Orient Securities’ branch office adjustments is shifting resources such as manpower, organizational capacity, and financial strength toward high-value eastern economic provinces and first-tier cities. In 2025, Orient Securities established subsidiaries in four locations—Shanghai, Beijing, Fujian, and Shenzhen—and advanced the preparation work for other provincial-level subsidiaries, strengthening regional market layout. It also took multiple measures, including reducing rent and lease-related costs from branches and strengthening expense controls, to squeeze out inefficient and ineffective spending. These efforts effectively improved the profitability performance of business offices and strengthened an ROE-oriented approach.

Orient Securities’ distribution of branch institutions at end-2024

Orient Securities’ distribution of branch institutions at end-2025

Standing at the “below book value” threshold

High dividends are welcomed by shareholders

It is not only the profit growth; what makes shareholders happy is the high dividend. The company plans to distribute RMB 2 per 10 shares, totaling cash dividends of RMB 1.69B. Together with the mid-2025 interim dividend of RMB 1.01B, total dividends for all of 2025 will be RMB 2.7 billion, equivalent to 47.91% of net profit attributable to shareholders. The total dividend amount for the full year increased by more than 80% compared with RMB 1.48B for 2024, and the cash dividend payout ratio also reached a new high since 2021.

Higher dividends help restore shareholders’ confidence. Orient Securities’ secondary-market performance and valuation are not particularly outstanding. After adjusting for dividends and share splits, Orient Securities’ A-share price rose 5.4% in 2025; from 2026 to March 27 it fell 16.4%. Its latest PB(LF) valuation is only 0.99, ranking in the bottom 1/5 among A-share securities firms, and it is one of the 12 out of 50+ A-share securities firms whose valuations are below book value.

Compared with the listed sister companies under the major shareholder Shenan Group, Orient Securities’ share price and valuation are also relatively weak. Shenan Group remains the controlling shareholder of China Taiping Insurance and Taikang? and Shenan Shares. From 2025 to March 27, 2026, the adjusted-for-dividends and share splits gains of China Taiping and Shenan Shares were 12% and 2%, respectively; and the stage gains from 2026 to March 27 were -11.4% and 18.4%, respectively. China Taiping’s latest A-share PB is 1.18 times, and Shenan Shares’ PB is 1.23 times—both higher than Orient Securities.

Low share-price trading ranges prevent many long-term investors from enjoying paper gains. In 2017, Orient Securities implemented a private placement to raise RMB 11.05 billion, with an issue price of RMB 14.21. Zhejiang Energy Capital Co., Ltd. invested nearly RMB 3 billion and subscribed for 209 million shares, making it the largest buyer in this private placement. Zhejiang Energy Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zhejiang Energy Group.

wind shows that Zhejiang Energy Capital reduced its holdings to 139 million shares in the second half of 2021. In 2022, it participated in a rights offering and was allocated more than 236.6k shares, increasing total holdings to 177 million shares. The rights offering price was RMB 8.46 per share, for a total cost of about RMB 330 million. It is now the 6th largest shareholder of Orient Securities. Zhejiang Energy Capital’s general manager, Ren Zhixiang, is still a current director of Orient Securities.

Even considering that after participating in a low-price rights offering in 2022, the overall cost of its holdings was diluted, the investment returns over more than 8 years by Zhejiang Energy Capital on its holding of Orient Securities stock are still not particularly impressive.

The annual report shows that in recent years, there has been continued outflow of shareholders. The number of common shareholders was 236.6k at end-2022, 200k at end-2024, and only 171.6k at end-2025. By end of February 2026, the latest number of shareholders was 182.5k.

Therefore, in 2025 Orient Securities will distribute dividends of RMB 2.7 billion. Zhejiang Energy Capital will receive over RMB 200k in dividends, which will greatly improve the holding experience of long-term investors and enhance investment returns. Orient Securities also promises to adhere to a value orientation of “investors first,” placing shareholder returns as a core goal, and to continuously implement a stable and predictable cash dividend policy. Therefore, the future dividend strength is worth期待.

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