By this weekend, several brokerages including 财达证券 and 东方财富 are scheduled to release their interim reports, with leading firms accelerating their disclosures in late August.

On the evening of August 20, 中信证券 (600030.SH) published its 2026 interim report, posting first-half revenue of 49.692 billion yuan, up 50% year-on-year, with net profit attributable to shareholders reaching 23.343 billion yuan, a surge of 69.6%. Prior to this, 中信建投 (601066.SH) and 国泰海通 (601211.SH) had already unveiled their interim results. In total, nine listed brokerages or their parent companies have released interim reports to date, with two additional firms publishing earnings previews. 中信证券 currently leads the performance rankings, followed by 国泰海通 in second place and 中信建投 in third.

Overall, the brokerage sector has sustained the strong growth momentum seen in first-quarter results. Among the interim reports disclosed so far, only 锦龙股份 (000712.SZ) recorded a decline in performance for the period. According to the schedule, 东方财富 (300053.SZ) and 中泰证券 (600918.SH) are among those set to release their interim reports by the end of this week (August 23).

Leading brokerages roll out interim results

In late July, 信达证券 (601059.SH) and 东兴证券 (601198.SH) kicked off the industry's interim reporting season by releasing their 2026 semi-annual reports, while 东方证券 (600958.SH) disclosed its earnings preview during the same month. All three firms reported growth in both revenue and profit for the first half of the year. 东方证券 posted revenue of 9.56 billion yuan and net profit attributable to shareholders of 4.518 billion yuan, up 19.49% and 30.46% year-on-year, respectively. Among the other two, 东兴证券 achieved operating revenue of 2.506 billion yuan in the first six months, up 11.40% year-on-year, with attributable net profit of 1.025 billion yuan, a 25.13% increase. 信达证券 reported revenue of 2.435 billion yuan for the same period, up 19.53%, and attributable net profit of 1.097 billion yuan, up 7.15%.

Since mid-August, the pace of interim disclosures has quickened. This week alone, 中信证券, 国泰海通, and 中信建投 have all released their latest results. In terms of revenue, 中信证券, 国泰海通, and 中信建投 each exceeded 100 billion yuan in first-half revenue, while 兴业证券 and 光大证券 also ranked near the top with 6.73 billion yuan and 6.056 billion yuan, respectively. Following them, 第一创业 disclosed an earnings preview showing first-half revenue of 2.17 billion yuan. At the lower end, 锦龙股份 recorded the smallest revenue at 349 million yuan. The company also reported that its controlling subsidiary 中山证券 generated 349 million yuan in revenue during the period, while its associate 东莞证券 brought in 2.096 billion yuan.

In terms of growth rates, all disclosed brokerages except 锦龙股份 saw increases in both revenue and net profit for the first half, with most reporting attributable net profit growth exceeding 20%. 国泰海通 and 中信建投 posted the largest revenue gains, up 97.56% and 51.11% year-on-year, respectively. 国泰海通 attributed its revenue growth to increases in net fee income from brokerage, investment banking, and asset management operations. 中信建投 noted that investment income, changes in fair value gains, net fee and commission income, and net interest income all grew year-on-year.

On the profit side, 中信证券, 中信建投, and 兴业证券 each saw attributable net profit surge by more than 60% in the first half. However, 锦龙股份, which holds stakes in both 中山证券 and 东莞证券, posted a worrying performance with revenue of 349 million yuan, down 16.28% year-on-year, and attributable net profit of 14 million yuan, a sharp 88.59% decline. The company attributed the drop to a 59.86% decrease in investment income to 215 million yuan, mainly due to the large gain recognized in the prior-year period from transferring 300 million shares of 东莞证券.

Brokerage and proprietary trading remain key growth drivers

During the first half, the A-share market experienced a volatile correction despite major indices trending upward, providing robust support for the performance of the securities industry. Leading brokerages saw standout results in their institutional and trading businesses, while smaller players continued to rely on traditional brokerage and proprietary trading as core revenue engines.

国泰海通's institutional and trading operations, combined with its wealth management business, contributed nearly 80% of total revenue. The company reported institutional and trading revenue of 22.176 billion yuan, up 223.24% year-on-year, and wealth management revenue of 14.655 billion yuan, up 49.97%, representing 47.02% and 31.07% of total revenue, respectively. For 中信建投, its trading and institutional client services segment was the largest revenue contributor in the first half, generating 9.072 billion yuan and accounting for over half of total revenue.

Among smaller brokerages, brokerage and proprietary trading continued to take the lead. At 东兴证券, wealth management and investment trading each accounted for roughly 40% of total first-half revenue. The company's interim report shows wealth management revenue of 1.051 billion yuan and investment trading revenue of 1.025 billion yuan, making up 41.93% and 40.91% of total revenue, respectively. Both segments drove growth, with year-on-year increases of 19.81% and 22.7%, while investment banking and asset management revenue both declined. 第一创业's growth also depended on brokerage and proprietary trading, with first-half revenue of 2.17 billion yuan and attributable net profit of 688 million yuan. The company said the year-on-year increase was mainly due to revenue growth from fixed income, securities brokerage and credit, and proprietary investment and trading operations.

Industry performance expected to maintain high growth

In late August, listed brokerages have accelerated their disclosures. 中信证券 released its interim report on the evening of August 20 and held a results briefing the following day. On the evening of August 21, three more brokerages — 东北证券, 东方财富, and 中泰证券 — are set to publish their interim reports. Next week (August 24-28) will mark the peak of the reporting season, with more than ten firms including 西南证券, 招商证券, and 国信证券 scheduled to release results. Among leading brokerages, 中金公司, 银河证券, and 华泰证券 will disclose their interim results by the end of the month.

Although the full picture of listed brokerages' interim performance is not yet clear, industry consensus suggests the sector will continue to show robust growth in the first half. According to 中金公司 analyst Wang Siyue, the 42 listed brokerages are expected to generate a combined attributable net profit of 142.5 billion yuan in the first half, up 50% year-on-year. In the second quarter alone, they are projected to post 81.6 billion yuan in attributable net profit, up 58% year-on-year and 34% quarter-on-quarter. Wang noted that brokerage operations would be the main driver of first-half growth, followed by proprietary trading, with asset management and investment banking net income also expected to increase year-on-year.

"We believe the high growth in brokerage performance is mainly supported by three key themes: tech investment, international business, and comprehensive wealth management," Wang said. She added that under these three themes, industry divergence could intensify. Leading brokerages, leveraging their licenses, capital advantages, integrated corporate service capabilities, and strengths in wealth management products, are expected to benefit long-term from overseas balance sheet expansion opportunities under capital market opening, high returns from investment banking and investing amid the tech rally, and household asset reallocation in the low-interest-rate era.

Drawing on earlier interim earnings previews, 中信建投 non-bank analyst Zhao Ran stated that brokerage previews have exceeded expectations, with M&A integration and tech business synergies driving a systematic rise in ROE, leaving significant room for valuation recovery. "As brokerages enter the peak disclosure period, we expect the market to gain a deeper understanding of their wealth management and international business development. We continue to recommend leading quality brokerages with strong advantages in these areas," said 国泰海通's chief non-bank analyst Liu Xinqi.

Regarding the sector's outlook, 开源证券 chief non-bank analyst Gao Chao believes the high growth indicated in interim previews could catalyze sector opportunities. "Low valuation levels have yet to reflect the valuation uplift driven by earnings growth potential. We recommend continuing to focus on undervalued leading brokerages," he said.