Revenues Fall by Half for 37 Listed Chinese Brokerages

What’s New: Total revenue of 37 securities brokerages listed on the Chinese mainland dropped 49.2% month-on-month to 16 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) in May amid the turbulence in stock and bond markets caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The brokerages’ net profits fell 54.9% month-on-month to a combined of 6.5 billion yuan. 35 of the 37 brokerages booked a decline in net profits, with 12 falling more than 70% from the previous month. Shenzhen- and Hong Kong-listed GF Securities Co. Ltd. and Shenzhen-listed Southwest Securities Co. Ltd. were the only two to report an increase in profits.

What’s Next: Wanlian Securities Co. Ltd. warned investors of risks stemming from a severe economic downturn and turbulence in the capital markets amid the coronavirus outbreak.

But analysts said they still hold a positive attitude towards capital markets performance in medium and long term, given continuing reform and opening-up of the sector and the Chinese government’s pledge to loosen monetary policy in the second half this year, announced at the “Two Sessions” of the country’s top legislative and political advisory bodies last month.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full Caixin article in Chinese, click here.

Contact reporter Tang Ziyi (ziyitang@caixin.com) and editor Marcus Ryder (marcusryder@caixin.com)