(ATF) Chinese securities firms recorded robust growth in the first half (H1), benefiting from recent reforms in the nation’s capital markets, according to the Securities Association of China (SAC).
China’s 134 listed brokerages saw operating revenue rise 19.3% to 213.4 billion yuan ($30.5bm), the SAC said. Net profits edged up 25% to 83.3bn yuan. Of those, 124 reported profit growth in the first half, statistics showed.
China has been reforming its capital markets over the past year to prevent bubbles appearing in sectors such as real estate and also to deflate the huge build up of corporate debt that threatened to weigh down its economy. Transformation has been hastened by the coronavirus pandemic, which led to the nation’s first quarterly GDP decline in decades.
The SAC said profitability of brokerages was an indication that the reforms were working.
By the end of June, the total assets of the 134 brokerages had reached 8 trillion yuan, with net assets standing at 2.1tn yuan. The net capital of the brokerages totalled 1.7tn yuan, the SAC said.
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