(Yicai) Sept. 1 -- China’s listed brokerages posted a nearly 50 percent surge in first-half profit, with earnings concentrated among industry leaders as smaller firms delivered increasingly divergent results.

The 42 mainland-listed securities firms reported combined net profit attributable to shareholders of CNY155.2 billion (USD23.1 billion) and revenue of CNY363.8 billion (USD54.1 billion), up 49 percent and 44 percent from a year earlier, respectively, according to Wind data. The 10 largest firms generated CNY248.1 billion in combined revenue, or 68 percent of the industry total.

More than 90 percent of the 42 brokerages reported year-on-year increases in both revenue and net profit in the first half, the data showed. The top three by revenue were Citic Securities, Guotai Haitong Securities, and GF Securities, with CNY49.7 billion (USD7.4 billion), CNY47.2 billion, and CNY26.9 billion, respectively.

Sun Ting, chief analyst of non-banking finance at Soochow Securities, attributed the industry's strong first-half performance mainly to wealth management, investment banking, and technology innovation investments. "The performance of leading securities firms has clearly exceeded market expectations, while the performance differentiation among smaller firms is quite pronounced," she said.

A total of 10 listed brokerages reported first-half revenue exceeding CNY10 billion.

Among these 10 leading firms, five posted net profit of more than CNY10 billion. They were Citic Securities, Guotai Haitong Securities, Huatai Securities, GF Securities, and China Merchants Securities, with net profits of CNY23.3 billion, CNY20.3 billion, CNY11.7 billion, CNY11.65 billion, and CNY10.6 billion, respectively.

Their combined net profit reached CNY77.6 billion, accounting for nearly 50 percent of the total net profit reported by all listed securities firms in the period. The figures underscore the continued concentration of earnings among China's leading brokerages.

Smaller Brokerages Show Diverging Performance

Although some smaller securities firms lagged their larger rivals in terms of profit, several recorded notable revenue and earnings growth.

Five of the 42 listed brokerages reported year-on-year increases of more than 100 percent in first-half net profit. They were TF Securities, Zhongtai Securities, China Merchants Securities, Caida Securities, and Huaan Securities. All except China Merchants Securities, one of China's five most profitable brokerages, were smaller firms.

But the performance of smaller brokerages was far from uniform, with their results ranging from modest profit growth to sharp declines.

At the more stable end was Shenzhen-based China Great Wall Securities, whose first-half revenue slipped 0.5 percent to CNY2.8 billion (USD423 million), while net profit edged up 0.7 percent to CNY1.4 billion.

Meanwhile, Chinalin Securities, also headquartered in the southeastern tech hub, fared worse despite growing revenue. Revenue rose 2 percent to CNY849 million (USD126 million), but net profit fell 23 percent to CNY258 million. Kunming-based Hongta Securities was weaker still, with both measures declining. Revenue dropped 14 percent to CNY1 billion, while net profit tumbled 24 percent to CNY510 million.

Editor: Emmi Laine