CITIC Securities earnings conference signals strong confidence, leverage ratio has "room" compared to international investment banks, and maintains resolve to pursue integration

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On March 27, Financial Associated Press (Reporter Gao Yanyun) reported that with record-high performance and unprecedented dividends, CITIC Securities has outlined a new blueprint for becoming a world-class investment bank in the first year of the 14th Five-Year Plan.

On March 27, CITIC Securities held its 2025 performance release conference in Hong Kong. CITIC Securities Chairman Zhang Youjun, General Manager Zou Yingguang, Financial Officer Zhang Hao, Board Secretary Wang Junfeng, Executive Committee Member and Chairman of CITIC Securities International Li Chunbo, and Head of the Planning and Finance Department Xi Zhiying attended to engage in in-depth discussions with investors and media.

This performance meeting contained a wealth of information; the management team not only interpreted the record-breaking performance and dividends but also responded to hot topics of market concern, including the 14th Five-Year Plan, international strategy, ROE enhancement path, and industry competition landscape.

Regarding the balanced development of heavy and light capital, Zhang Youjun made it clear that the company will seize policy opportunities and market chances, maintain stable growth of heavy capital businesses, while also striving for further leapfrogging development of light capital businesses.

In the face of competitive pressure from resource integration among leading brokerages, Zou Yingguang stated that CITIC Securities will maintain strategic determination, accurately grasp industry development trends, leverage regulatory support for quality brokerages, and steadfastly promote high-quality development through three core measures: improving quality and efficiency, strengthening competition, and expanding internationally.

Regarding the robust development of the international business in the securities industry, several CITIC Securities executives reached a consensus that the company will firmly advance its international strategy, consolidate its development advantages in Hong Kong, while also investing more resources in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe and the Americas, focusing on strengthening the business network, service ecosystem, and management mechanisms to continuously enhance cross-border comprehensive financial service capabilities.

In terms of performance, CITIC Securities’ ROE has risen to double digits, reaching 10.59%. Zhang Hao introduced that the company will steadily enhance its ROE level from three aspects: expanding and strengthening light capital businesses, developing high-quality capital business, and continuously enhancing lean management capabilities.

When discussing leverage, he admitted that there is still reasonable room for improvement in the company’s overall leverage ratio compared to top international investment banks. The overall leverage ratio is less than 5 times, while top international investment banks generally exceed 10 times.

Key Point 1: Anchoring the 14th Five-Year Plan, making comprehensive efforts across six dimensions

Facing the critical historical node of the 14th Five-Year Plan, Chairman Zhang Youjun set the tone for CITIC Securities’ future development. He recalled that during the five years of the 13th Five-Year Plan, CITIC Securities’ asset quality, profitability, functional performance, and brand influence all reached new heights. In the future development process of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the company has also decided to carry out relevant work in six areas.

Specifically, they are: first, making new breakthroughs in serving the national strategic direction; second, taking new actions in fulfilling mission responsibilities; third, creating new engines in strengthening core capabilities; fourth, achieving new results in expanding global layout; fifth, making new advancements in business empowered by technology; sixth, implementing new measures to improve management efficiency.

On the balance between heavy and light capital businesses, Zhang Youjun further added that the company will seize policy opportunities and development chances, maintaining the sustained stability of its heavy capital business development. Meanwhile, the company aims to achieve leapfrog development in light capital businesses, striving for coordinated development of heavy and light capital and enhancing the company’s core competitiveness.

Addressing the market’s heightened attention to AI empowerment, Zhang Youjun emphasized that the company will focus on digital transformation, advance financial infrastructure construction, promote deep integration of cutting-edge technology and business development, and accelerate the application of AI technology in various business scenarios, optimizing and reshaping business processes through digital and intelligent means.

Key Point 2: Steadfastly promoting high-quality development through three major measures

Faced with the accelerating consolidation in the securities industry and the increasingly significant head effect in competition, General Manager Zou Yingguang expressed full confidence. He pointed out that as a leading institution in the industry, CITIC Securities will maintain strategic determination, accurately grasp industry development trends, leverage regulatory support for quality brokerages, and resolutely promote high-quality development through the three core measures of improving quality and efficiency, strengthening competition, and expanding internationally.

Specifically, they will: first, insist on improving quality and efficiency, deepen core functional performance, and enhance the effectiveness of comprehensive financial services; second, insist on “strengthening competition,” balancing the layout of heavy and light capital businesses, and fully enhancing core competitiveness; third, insist on “expanding internationally,” deepening global layout, and advancing the international strategy in depth.

Zou Yingguang further explained that the company will strengthen its Hong Kong business, establish an Asia-Pacific hub, expand its global network, diversify overseas market business, solidify a global compliance risk control system, and fully serve the dual needs of Chinese customers “going out” and foreign capital “coming in,” continuously enhancing the global influence of the company’s brand.

Key Point 3: Fully serving technological innovation and the development of new productive forces

Zou Yingguang emphasized that as a leading securities company, CITIC Securities will fully leverage its professional capabilities in investment banking, investment, research, and asset management to fully support the development of national technological innovation and new productive forces.

Specific measures include four aspects: first, fully exerting the function of “main service provider” for direct financing, providing full lifecycle financing support for enterprises in new productive forces; second, fully utilizing the “source of living water” function of investment business to inject long-term and patient capital into enterprises in new productive forces; third, fully leveraging the value discovery function of research business to build a bridge for communication with the capital market for enterprises in new productive forces; fourth, fully utilizing the fund guiding function of asset management to create a good market ecosystem for enterprises in new productive forces.

Key Point 4: Cumulative dividends exceeding 93 billion since the listing

CITIC Securities’ total cash dividend for 2025 is 10.374 billion yuan, accounting for 35.73% of the net profit attributable to the ordinary shareholders of the listed company in 2025. After deducting the cash dividend of 4.298 billion yuan already distributed in the mid-term of 2025, the remaining cash dividend to be distributed is 6.076 billion yuan. Compared to the 2024 dividend, the total dividend for 2025 increased by nearly 35% year-on-year, setting a record for the highest dividend since the company’s establishment.

It is reported that since its listing on the A-shares in 2003, CITIC Securities has carried out cash dividends for 24 consecutive years, with a cumulative dividend exceeding 93 billion yuan, and the cash dividend ratio has remained around 35% in recent years.

Zhang Hao stated that moving forward, the company will maintain the stability and transparency of its dividend policy in accordance with regulatory policies and corporate governance requirements, effectively enhancing investor confidence and solidifying the company’s long-term investment value, and serving the high-quality development of the capital market.

Key Point 5: Performing well in the roles of “service provider,” “gatekeeper,” and “manager”

The outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan makes systematic deployments to accelerate the construction of a strong financial nation and explicitly proposes to “vigorously develop technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, and digital finance.” Zou Yingguang introduced that in 2025, CITIC Securities will anchor its goal of building a strong financial nation, empowering the real economy with professionalism, and achieving positive results in deepening the “five major articles.”

Specifically, in terms of technology finance, CITIC Securities insists on focusing on new powers, providing full lifecycle financial services for hard technology companies. In green finance, CITIC Securities insists on leading with low carbon, accelerating the construction of a full-chain green finance service system. In inclusive finance, CITIC Securities insists on financial services for the people, helping residents preserve and increase their wealth. In pension finance, CITIC Securities insists on sincerely guarding, fully participating in the construction of a multi-level pension guarantee system. In digital finance, the company insists on acting intelligently, continuously enhancing service levels through digital transformation.

Zou Yingguang stated that the construction of a strong financial nation requires the securities industry to continuously strengthen its mission and responsibility. The company will firmly grasp national strategic guidance, based on the historical positioning of “the rise and fall of the nation, finance has responsibilities,” fully perform the main “service provider” for direct financing, the important “gatekeeper” of the capital market, and the professional “manager” of social wealth, accelerating the construction of a first-class investment bank and investment institution, and using high-quality development results to support the construction of a strong financial nation.

Key Point 6: ROE increased to double-digit levels

In 2025, CITIC Securities’ annual ROE reached 10.59%, an increase of 2.5 percentage points year-on-year. Zhang Hao pointed out that the company will always adhere to its original mission of serving the real economy, focusing on its main responsibilities and businesses, and striving to steadily enhance the ROE level.

First, expand and strengthen light capital businesses, continuously focus on investment banking, wealth management, and asset management, optimize business structure and revenue models, leveraging the advantages of professional service capabilities and customer resources to create differentiated competitiveness, providing stable support for ROE enhancement.

Second, develop high-quality capital businesses, enrich trading strategies, increase the proportion of non-trend income, enhance the ability to withstand market cyclical fluctuations, continuously strengthen investment stability and value judgment capabilities, and improve capital utilization efficiency to drive profitability enhancement.

Third, continuously strengthen lean management capabilities, deepen cost control and resource allocation, improve operational efficiency and refined management levels, laying a solid foundation for the continuous and stable enhancement of ROE.

Key Point 7: Leverage still has reasonable room for improvement

Recently, Chairman Wu Qing of the China Securities Regulatory Commission explicitly stated at the eighth member congress of the Securities Industry Association that quality institutions should optimize evaluation indicators, moderately broaden capital space and leverage limits, and enhance capital utilization efficiency. Zhang Hao stated that this will inject important momentum into the domestic brokerage industry, especially for leading quality brokerages’ high-quality development.

He revealed that currently, the overall leverage level of the domestic securities industry remains low. By the end of 2025, CITIC Securities’ overall leverage ratio will also be less than 5 times, compared to the leverage level of over 10 times for top international investment banks, leaving reasonable room for improvement. Rational leverage usage can enhance capital utilization efficiency, strengthen the competitiveness of the company’s core businesses, and improve the company’s comprehensive ability to serve the real economy, which is an important support for achieving the strategic goal of becoming a first-class investment bank and investment institution.

Zhang Hao emphasized that the company will strictly adhere to regulatory requirements, based on controllable risks and stable operations, persist in serving the needs of the real economy as the fundamental purpose, and focus on promoting the development of client demand-driven businesses such as financing and securities lending, FICC, and equity derivatives, deeply implementing a globalization development strategy, steadily supporting the development of cross-border investment and financing, global asset allocation, and maintaining the bottom line of capital constraints and risk compliance, striving to achieve simultaneous enhancement of capital utilization efficiency, business development quality, and capabilities to serve the real economy.

Key Point 8: Striving to become the preferred investment bank for “China Investment” and “Investing in China”

Internationalization has become an important business growth pole for Chinese brokerages, and CITIC Securities has achieved rapid development in international business in recent years. Zhang Youjun stated that looking to the future, CITIC Securities will focus on strengthening its business network, service ecosystem, and management mechanism construction, continuously enhancing cross-border comprehensive financial service capabilities, and striving to become the preferred investment bank for “China Investment” and “Investing in China.”

Specifically, they will: first, improve a diversified business network covering major global markets, enrich product supply in the Asia-Pacific region, steadily advance business layout in Europe and the Americas, and further broaden global service coverage; second, build an integrated global comprehensive service ecosystem, deepen domestic and foreign business collaboration, create a full-chain cross-border service model, especially in the core competitive capabilities of cross-border investment and financing, and derivatives trading; third, establish a management system suitable for international development, improve global integrated management, accelerate the construction of a globally unified risk compliance management platform, and strengthen the development of an international talent team to provide solid support for the development of international business.

Zhang Youjun also acknowledged that the process of promoting internationalization will inevitably face challenges such as complex geopolitical issues, market fluctuations, and industry competition. CITIC Securities will set its goals firmly and make solid arrangements for organizational structure, human resources, and capital that align with internationalization, always focus on customer needs, optimize cross-border service experiences, and accelerate the establishment of “the most trusted global client, a leading domestic and first-class international Chinese investment bank.”

Performance data shows that in 2025, CITIC Securities International achieved operating income of 3.3 billion USD and a net profit of 900 million USD, both reaching historical highs, with year-on-year growth of 48% and 72%, respectively. Meanwhile, the contribution of CITIC Securities International to the overall revenue and profit of CITIC Securities has further increased, reaching 18% and 21%, respectively.

Regarding the development ideas for the Hong Kong market and beyond, Li Chunbo introduced that CITIC Securities International will undertake a series of measures to enhance product competitiveness, professionalism, and global operational capabilities. In the Hong Kong region, the company will actively expand new varieties and strategies, continuously seize opportunities in interconnectivity business, provide more comprehensive services for domestic enterprises “going out” and overseas capital “coming in,” create a higher-level, more complex product system, and continuously enhance the overall service competitiveness of the company, making the Hong Kong business stronger and larger.

In other international markets outside of Hong Kong, the company will continue to accelerate business layout, increase resource investment in the Asia-Pacific market, promote steady development in markets such as Singapore and the UK, create an international business layout of “multi-regional collaboration,” and promote a more balanced national business structure and revenue structure.

Additionally, Zou Yingguang stated that CITIC Securities always regards serving long-term funds entering the market as an important approach to practice the company’s mission of “financial service to the nation,” fully leveraging its full-license, full-industry chain professional advantages to precisely exert efforts from three aspects: asset supply, professional services, and investment management, promoting the concept of “long money and long investment” to deepen and solidify in the capital market.

Wang Junfeng introduced that in 2025, CITIC Securities will strictly implement regulatory requirements and continuously improve its market value management system.

First, focus on “improving quality and efficiency to return value,” laying a solid foundation for the company’s long-term value. Second, optimize the information disclosure mechanism to convey the investment value of the company’s high-quality development. Third, strengthen investor communication to build an open and multidimensional investor relations interactive system. Fourth, deepen innovative practical exploration to create high-quality market value management communication activities. In the future, CITIC Securities will align its market value management framework with regulatory policies and its own situation, promote a more scientific and efficient execution of the framework, and strive to create more sustainable and stable investment value for the majority of shareholders.

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