China Securities Co reports profits down over 20%

BEIJING - China Securities Co said on Tuesday that its net profits fell 23.11 percent year-on-year to 3.09 billion yuan ($461 million) in 2018, largely due to its sluggish wealth-management sector.

In its first annual report filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the brokerage said its revenues decreased 3.5 percent from a year earlier to 10.9 billion yuan.

Total assets amounted to about 195 billion yuan at the end last year, down 5.25 percent from the end of 2017.

The brokerage's wealth-management operation saw drastic year-on-year declines, with revenues falling to 3.62 billion yuan.

However, its investment-banking sector remained strong, with revenues reaching about 3 billion yuan.

The company, which listed in Shanghai on June 12, 2018, had 10 IPO applications under scrutiny at the end of last year, ranking first in the industry.

China's 131 brokerages reaped profits of 66.62 billion yuan last year, plunging 41.04 percent from a year earlier, as a bear stock market took its toll. Some 106 companies reported profits, compared with 120 in 2017, according to the Securities Association of China.