Recently, East Money Information Co., Ltd. (300059.SZ) announced that, based on the inquiries for subscription on October 9, 2025, shareholders Lu Lili and Shen Yougen have preliminarily set the transfer price at 24.40 yuan per share. On September 30, East Money disclosed that Lu Lili and Shen Yougen planned to transfer 237.8 million shares through inquiry-based transfers. This means that Lu Lili and Shen Yougen will cash out approximately 5.8 billion yuan.
The identities of these shareholders are particularly notable; Shen Yougen and Lu Lili are the father and wife, respectively, of the actual controller of East Money, Shen Jun. All three are acting in concert. As of September 30, 2025, Lu Lili, Shen Yougen, and the actual controller together held 21.89% of the company's total shares. A representative from East Money indicated that the funds raised from this share transfer will primarily be invested in technology and startup enterprises.
It is worth noting that on July 18, East Money announced that shareholder Shen Yougen planned to transfer 158.8 million shares, equivalent to 1% of the company's total stock, via an inquiry-based transfer. Ultimately, Shen Yougen transferred 158.8 million shares at a transfer price of 21.66 yuan per share, resulting in approximately 3.439 billion yuan in cash. Thus, the total amount liquidated by the family of the actual controller of East Money in the current year is expected to reach 9.239 billion yuan.
Previously, Shen Yougen also reduced his holdings in East Money multiple times through block trading. From September 2020 to February 2021, he cumulatively sold 107 million shares at an average price of 26.95 yuan per share, cashing out a total of 2.883 billion yuan.
Currently, East Money's valuation stands at a PE ratio of 38 times and a PB ratio of 5 times, compared to the brokerage industry's median PE of 15 times and PB of 1.5 times. Industry insiders suggest that the dramatic reduction in holdings by the actual controller reflects changes in the competitive environment surrounding East Money. Since its listing, East Money has been the only "internet brokerage" in the A-share market, but in the last two years, firms such as Zhinanzhen (300803.SZ) and Xiangcai Co. (600095.SH) have acquired Maigao Securities and Dazhihui, respectively, diminishing the uniqueness of East Money's "internet brokerage" concept. Moreover, as trading commission rates and margin loan rates continue to decline, East Money’s primary revenue comes from traditional channel businesses such as brokerage services and margin trading, where competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Compared to leading brokerages that seek business upgrades in proprietary trading, investment banking, and asset management, East Money, as a private brokerage, faces considerable gaps in capital, talent, branding, and resources, making it difficult to achieve breakthroughs.
It has been noted that East Money's business structure primarily focuses on brokerage and other channel services, contrasting with leading brokerages that center on knowledge-intensive and talent-intensive operations. This distinction is also evident in the firm's wage expenditures; in the first half of the year, the company spent 1.2 billion yuan on employee salaries, accounting for 17% of its revenue, while leading brokers such as CITIC, Guotai Junan, Huatai, and GF hold a salary-to-revenue ratio of around 30%. How can the company attract talent for upgrading its proprietary trading and asset management businesses? What are the company's thoughts on business upgrades? As of the time of publication, East Money has not provided specific responses.
Comments