On October 26th, CITIC Securities (600030. SH) released its third quarter report for 2026. The report shows that in the first three quarters of this year, CITIC Securities achieved a total operating revenue of 66.59 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.60%; The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company (hereinafter referred to as "net profit") was 31.022 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.66%.

In the first half of 2026, CITIC Securities achieved its best mid-term performance in history, with revenue and net profit increasing by 50% and 69.6% year-on-year, respectively. Entering the third quarter, its performance growth rate began to hit the "brake", with a single quarter revenue of 16.898 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 26.59%; The net profit was 7.679 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 20.19% and a significant month on month decrease of 41.5%.

On the morning of October 27th, CITIC Securities held a third quarter performance briefing. The newly appointed helm Zou Yingguang led the management team to participate in a performance briefing for the first time. He introduced at the briefing that as of the end of September 2026, CITIC Securities' total assets reached 2.35 trillion yuan, an increase of 13% from the beginning of the year; The net assets attributable to the parent company reached 367.4 billion yuan, an increase of 15% compared to the beginning of the year, and the asset size and quality have steadily improved.

Investment returns under pressure

In terms of specific business lines, in the first three quarters of this year, CITIC Securities' net revenue from handling fees and commissions was 32.631 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.86%. The revenue covered fee based businesses such as brokerage, asset management, and investment banking, accounting for nearly half of the total revenue. Among them, the net income from brokerage fees and commissions was 14.73 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 34.65%. The net income from asset management transaction fees was 10.867 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.86%. The net income from investment banking transaction fees was 5.124 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 38.90%.

From the perspective of investment banking business, it is mainly due to the significant increase in underwriting scale of CITIC Securities' IPO (initial public offering) projects this year. According to Wind data, in the first three quarters of this year, the total underwriting amount of CITIC Securities' IPO was 36.995 billion yuan, exceeding the level of 23.766 billion yuan for the whole year of 2025. However, its ranking did not hold the first place in the industry, lagging behind CICC (601995. SH) and Guotai Haitong (601211. SH).

Net interest income was one of the most significant growth sectors for CITIC Securities in the first three quarters, with a net interest income of 3.223 billion yuan, a significant increase of 319.68% year-on-year, accounting for 4.84% of operating income. CITIC Securities explained that the increase was mainly due to the increase in monetary funds, settlement provisions, and interest income from margin trading and securities lending.

From an investment perspective, CITIC Securities' self operated revenue for the first three quarters was 30.523 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.41%. In the first half of this year, CITIC Securities' self operated business revenue was 24.874 billion yuan. Based on this calculation, the business revenue in the third quarter was only 5.649 billion yuan.

Zhang Hao, the financial director of CITIC Securities, stated at the performance meeting that in the third quarter of 2026, there were fluctuations in the domestic stock market, and the company's securities investment business revenue decreased compared to the previous quarter. In recent years, the company has continuously strengthened its customer market development, and its fee based business has continued to develop steadily. In the third quarter, its fee and commission income was 11.2 billion yuan, a month on month increase of 0.4%, and it still maintained stable profitability during market fluctuations.

Zhang Hao further explained that in the first three quarters of 2026, there were fluctuations in the domestic stock market, and the company's disposal of financial instrument investment income decreased, resulting in a year-on-year decline in investment income. At the same time, changes in the fair value of derivative financial instruments led to a year-on-year increase in fair value gains, which to some extent offset the decline in investment income. The overall securities investment business income of the company decreased slightly year-on-year. In the future, the company will continue to enhance its forward-looking asset allocation capabilities, further expand its customer service business scale, and continuously improve the stability of investment business income.

Power Transfer and Capital Layout

In the third quarter of 2026, CITIC Securities has implemented multiple capital operations and significant personnel changes.

On September 28th, CITIC Securities announced that Chairman Zhang Youjun had resigned due to retirement at the age of majority, and General Manager Zou Yingguang had resigned from his position due to work adjustments. The board of directors elected Zou Yingguang as the chairman and legal representative, and appointed him to perform the duties of the general manager during the vacancy period.

In terms of capital operation, CITIC Securities completed the issuance of H shares to specific targets on August 6th. The largest shareholder, CITIC Financial Holdings, fully subscribed for 804 million shares in cash at an issue price of HKD 23.13 per share, raising a total of HKD 16 billion. After the issuance, CITIC Financial Holdings' shareholding ratio increased from 19.84% to 23.96%. During the reporting period, CITIC Corporation also completed capital increases for its subsidiaries CITIC Securities International and CITIC Futures.

At the performance meeting, Zou Yingguang responded to the issue of development strategy, stating that in the face of changes in the external market environment, CITIC Securities will firmly anchor its goal of building a strong financial country, maintain strategic determination, and further consolidate its market competitive advantage through the three core measures of "improving quality and efficiency, strengthening competition, and expanding internationally".

The current fluctuations in the capital market and the highly dependent securities industry on market conditions will face the common challenge of a month on month decline in performance. According to the non bank team of Guotai Haitong, it is expected that the total contribution of brokerage and credit business will be 39% in the first three quarters, and the self operated business will contribute 41% to the growth; From the perspective of the third quarter, due to fluctuations in the equity market, the decline in primary and secondary investments has put pressure on self operated businesses, which is the core drag on the month on month decline in performance. It is expected to contribute 83% of the month on month decline.

As a leading player in the securities industry, CITIC Securities' performance in various businesses has led to a year-on-year decline in its third quarter results, which has raised concerns among investors about the cyclical market trends of brokerage stocks. On October 27th, the stock price of CITIC Securities opened low and fluctuated. At the close of the day, its stock price was 24.91 yuan/share, a decrease of 3.04%.

At the performance meeting, the management of CITIC Securities responded to the stock price issue, stating that since 2026, the company has actively responded to changes in the external market environment, solidly carried out various business management work, maintained steady growth in operating performance, and steadily improved the quality of the company's development. The stock price in the secondary market is influenced by multiple factors and has a certain degree of volatility.

(Author Niu Yu)