China's CITIC Securities (600030.SS), beat forecasts on Thursday with a 70% year-on-year jump in first-half net profit, helped by higher brokerage and investment banking fees amid a resilient stock market.
Net profit for the six months ended June 30 rose to 23.34 billion yuan ($3.47 billion), topping analysts' mean estimate of 19.57 billion yuan, according to LSEG data.
The results were buoyed by improved investor sentiment and resilient trading activity in China's stock market, lifting brokerage fees and equity investment gains at the country's largest securities firms.
Fees and commissions from brokerage business rose 53.9% in the half year to 9.86 billion yuan, according to a stock exchange filing.
China's tech-heavy boards were among the world's best performing markets in the period. The STAR 50 Index gained about 64%, while the ChiNext index rose 36%.
Both the A-share and Hong Kong IPO markets saw robust activity in the first half, with a string of new listings and underwriting business concentrated among larger brokers, including CITIC.
"The domestic economy faces a K-shaped divergence, with high-tech industries, represented by technology and AI, booming," CITIC said in the filing.
But traditional industries, including consumer-related sectors, real estate, and energy-intensive businesses, continued to weaken amid insufficient demand, it said.
Analysts expect a pipeline of high-profile technology and semiconductor listings to support the brokerage's investment banking business in the second half.
Fees and commissions from investment banking rose 44.1% to 3.02 billion yuan in the first half, while asset management fees and commissions increased 31.9%.
Investment income fell 32% year-on-year to 14.22 billion yuan, the filing showed.
CITIC's Hong Kong-listed shares closed down 1.07% at HK$25.86 before the earnings release, versus a 0.8% rise in the benchmark index (.HSI).
($1 = 6.7218 Chinese yuan renminbi)
