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SCMP Reporter

Citic Securities, the mainland's largest brokerage, said first-half profit growth slowed to 13.3 per cent as the bearish A-share market ate into its trading commission income.
Despite the slower growth, the mainland brokerage ranked 10th by investment banking fees so far this year in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, as other global banks slumped.
In a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the company it would post a net profit of 4.77  billion yuan (HK$5.46 billion), up from 4.21  billion yuan a year earlier. In stark contrast, the company's interim earnings in 2007 jumped 442 per cent year on year.
Citic Securities reported first-half revenue of 10.9 billion yuan, up 2.57 per cent,  according to the filing.
'A crippled brokerage business largely dragged on its profit growth,' said Dazhong Insurance fund manager Wu Kan. 'The big drop in earnings growth is not a surprise to the market.'
The Shanghai Composite Index  has dropped 47.2 per cent so far this year as investors  baulked at the moribund stock market amid worries of poor corporate earnings.
Citic Securities' A shares tumbled 74.1 per cent from the close of last year, ending at 23.12 yuan on Friday.
Mainland brokerages' earnings hinge mainly  on the turnover on the A-share market and their trading commission fees normally represent the majority of total profits.
Early this month, Guoyan Securities, the first mainland brokerage to report first-half earnings, said its profit dropped more than 50 per cent in the six months  to June.
Citic Securities  did not break down the figures for its different sectors but analysts said its investment banking business helped  offset the severe decline in the brokerage business.
Analysts said Citic's second-half earnings growth may further decline because of the high base last year.
According to Thomson Reuters, Citic Securities  has raked in investment banking fees worth  US$114.5 million so far this year, up 25.5 per cent from a year earlier.  It managed 31 share sales in the year to date compared with 46 deals in the same period  in 2006.
According to Thomson Reuters, the Beijing-based firm was 10th in the Asia-Pacific, its underwriting fees  just shy of the US$118 million earned by Morgan Stanley in the region and Merrill Lynch's US$125.3 million.



Citic Securities profit growth slows to 13.3pc on A-share market slump