Brokerage Profits drop 30% in February

SHANGHAI, Mar. 13 -- The monthly net profit of 19 securities brokerages listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen in February totaled 1.84 billion yuan, ($300 million) a 30 percent decrease from January, according to reports from the companies.

Total revenues of the 19 companies in February was 4.9 billion yuan, down 25 percent from January.

Only two of the 19 companies saw profit growth in February, while 15 brokerages reported positive profit gain in January.

The number of trading days decreased by some 25 percent due to holidays in February, which impacted the business income of securities brokerages and securities margin trading, said analysts.

Creative business, including securities margin trading and a pilot program that enables shorting securities, will bring more business income to securities companies, said analysts.

For those securities companies that have not been listed in Shanghai or Shenzhen and are still waiting to be approved for an initial public offering, fixed income is currently the major source for income, according to Liu Yang, researcher with Shanghai Securities Co Ltd.