(Yicai Global) Feb. 17 -- China’s futures brokerages posted average gains in net profit of almost 60 percent last year, as corporate clients sought to hedge against big swings in global commodity prices, according to the Shanghai Futures Exchange.

Some 150 brokerages earned a combined CNY13.7 billion (USD2.2 billion) in the year ended Dec. 31, the SFE said in a recent announcement.

As more businesses turn to the futures market, the share of profits from traditional brokering is gradually shrinking, while the proportion from innovative business such as risk and asset management is increasing, the exchange noted.

The number of Chinese mainland-listed firms hedging jumped last year, with the volume of related announcements in excess of 1,000, versus 750 in 2020, according to incomplete data.

The entry of industrial and institutional investors into the futures market has changed its composition, the SFE said. Open interest, or the total number of futures contracts held by market participants, jumped 42 percent to CNY1.2 trillion (USD189.4 billion) last year, 63 percent of which were held by corporate clients, up 7 percentage points from 2020.

The risk management units of futures brokerages support the growth of small and mid-sized firms as they use flexible over-the-counter derivates to help businesses stabilize raw material costs, lock in processing profits, boost profits, and achieve refined risk management, the exchange said.

From January to November last year, micro, small-, and medium-sized companies accounted for as much as 98.3 percent of all corporate clients dealing with risk managers.

Risk managers saw their net profits soar 84 percent to CNY2.1 billion (USD331.5 million) in 2021, with revenues up 26 percent to CNY262.9 billion (USD41.5 billion).

Editor: Futura Costaglione