Citic Securities shares fall on soft Q3 profit

Citic Securities shares fell on Tuesday after the Chinese brokerage giant posted a 20.2% decline in third-quarter net profit on Monday, hurt chiefly by sluggish retail trading and overall weakness in domestic stock markets.

Citic fell 2.4% to HK$20.62, while its Shanghai shares fell nearly 3%.

Net profit for the three months ending September 30 fell 20.2% to 7.68 billion yuan ($1.15 billion), missing Reuters/LSEG estimates of 10.05 billion yuan.

The broker’s investment income dropped 45.25% to 17.978 billion yuan in the first nine months of the year.

Chinese stocks slumped in the third quarter, with the blue-chip CSI 300 index entering a bear market in October as a selloff in artificial intelligence stocks sparked a sharp reversal from initial gain in local markets.

Weak retail trading volumes, amid a broader decline in consumer spending and investment, also weighed.

Net fee income from brokerage business rose 34.65% year-on-year to 14.73 billion yuan in the first nine months of the year. Asset management rose 24.86%.

Investment banking fees and commissions rose 38.9% to 5.124 billion yuan in the nine months ended September 30. IPO activity in mainland and Hong Kong markets remained robust.