The reshaping of the securities industry landscape: the wave of mergers triggers major changes among leading firms, and differentiated competition becomes the key to breaking the deadlock

As of the evening of April 1, 25 listed securities firms have completed the disclosure of their 2025 annual financial reports. Data show that these firms’ net profits all achieved positive year-on-year growth, but the industry’s increasingly polarized performance landscape has become even more evident. Among the leading brokers, Guotai Haitong Securities achieved a business leap through a merger, with multiple key metrics now running close to industry leader CITIC Securities; meanwhile, Huatai Securities’ growth lagged at the bottom of the top-tier group due to its asset management business revenue being cut in half and its proprietary investment income falling. In the small and mid-sized broker segment, Guolian Minsheng Securities became the biggest dark horse thanks to merger-and-restructuring moves, but some firms still faced performance pressure due to proprietary investment losses or penalties imposed on their investment banking business.

In terms of revenue scale, CITIC Securities has continued to lead the industry with revenue of RMB 74.854 billion and net profit of RMB 30.076 billion, followed by Guotai Haitong Securities with net profit of RMB 27.809 billion. It is worth noting that through the merger, Guotai Haitong saw a 114% year-on-year surge in net profit, narrowing the gap with CITIC Securities by nearly 40 percentage points from the prior year. By contrast, although Huatai Securities’ revenue exceeded RMB 300 billion, its net profit growth was only 7%. Its net revenue from the asset management business fell 52% year on year; its net revenue from proprietary businesses decreased by 8%. This made it the weakest performer among the top-tier group.

The small and mid-sized broker camp shows an “icy hot” pattern—extremes on both ends. Nine firms, including Xinda Securities, had net profits of less than RMB 2.0 billion, but some regional brokers performed strongly: Zhongyuan Securities’ net profit rose 85.4% year on year to RMB 456 million, Guohai Securities climbed 79.57% to RMB 769 million, and Shenwan Hongyuan delivered net profit of RMB 9.507 billion with a growth rate of 82.46%. In a special case, Western Securities’ revenue fell 10.8% because its bulk commodity trading business contracted, but it still achieved a 24.9% increase in net profit through cost control.

Business-structure divergence has become a notable characteristic of the industry. In brokerage operations, Guotai Haitong and CITIC Securities formed a “two-hero” setup, with net revenues of RMB 15.138 billion and RMB 14.753 billion, respectively, while for 10 brokers including Dongxing Securities, this business revenue was less than RMB 1.0 billion. Investment banking shows a top-heavy monopoly pattern: CITIC Securities leads by a wide margin with RMB 12.177 billion in asset management income, and the top five institutions account for 60% of market share. The gap in proprietary business is even more stark: CITIC Securities’ revenue of RMB 38.604 billion is 20 times that of the bottom-ranked institution, while four firms including Guohai Securities saw their proprietary business revenue decline by more than 30% year on year.

Mergers and restructuring have become the key variable in changing the industry landscape. After Guolian Minsheng Securities merged, it achieved total operating revenue of RMB 7.673 billion, up 185.99%, net profit of RMB 2.009 billion, with a growth rate of 405.49%. Its net revenues from brokerage, investment banking, and proprietary businesses increased by 193%, 165%, and 254%, respectively, forming a favorable momentum across three lines. Guotai Haitong Securities also benefited from merger effects: net revenue from proprietary business reached RMB 25.4 billion, second only to CITIC Securities, while credit business revenue of RMB 8.278 billion ranked first in the industry.

Professionals say that the essence of industry polarization lies in the pain of transitioning development models. Zhou Yun, an expert at the Shanghai National Accounting Institute, believes that the market rebound driving a repair in brokerage and proprietary businesses is the main reason for the improvement in performance, but differences among institutions in investment research capabilities and risk-control levels lead to earnings divergence. Liu Yan, chairman of Anjue Asset Management, points out that top-tier brokers form a “Matthew effect” thanks to full-license advantages, and that small and mid-sized institutions need to build distinctive competitive strengths in segmented areas such as wealth management and derivatives. Gong Tao, chairman of Shenzhen Zhongjin Huachuang Fund, reminds that the stability of business teams significantly affects institutional performance; in 2024, Zhongyuan Securities’ investment banking business was penalized, resulting in a 40% reduction in its related revenue for 2025.

For industry development trends, Liu Youhua, chief analyst at Pingpaiwang Wealth, recommends that leading institutions should diversify risk through international expansion; mid-sized brokers need to focus on regional markets to form comparative advantages; and smaller institutions may explore transformation paths such as boutique investment banking or wealth management. Zhou Yun emphasizes that securities firms need to build counter-cyclical capabilities: accumulate risk reserve funds during market upswings, and strengthen the investment research system during downturns. The data show that in 2025, in securities firms’ proprietary businesses, institutions using non-directional investment strategies had a return volatility 37% lower than that of traditional models, indicating the necessity of strategy transformation.