As the new year begins, the first major event for Huatai Securities is a board reshuffle. The latest board meeting resolution indicates approval of the proposal to elect members for the seventh board of directors (non-independent directors) of Huatai Securities, which will be submitted to the company's shareholders' meeting for deliberation. The board has approved Wang Huaiqing, Zhou Yi, Ding Feng, Yu Lanying, Ke Xiang, Jin Yongfu, and Chen Jianwei as candidates for non-independent directors of the seventh board of directors. Upon election and approval at the shareholders' meeting, these candidates will officially assume their duties as directors of the seventh board for a three-year term. Additionally, Wang Ying has become the candidate for employee representative director of the seventh board of directors. The selection of these director candidates holds little surprise, with the vast majority being nominees from shareholders. Currently, shareholders individually or collectively holding more than 1% of Huatai Securities' outstanding voting shares have proposed four candidates for the seventh board of directors. Jiangsu Guoxin Group, Jiangsu Transportation Holdings, Jiangsu High-tech Investment Group, and Jiangsu Suhao Holdings Group have nominated Ding Feng, Yu Lanying, Ke Xiang, and Jin Yongfu, respectively, as non-executive directors for the seventh board. The company chairman, based on corporate recommendations, nominated Chen Jianwei, recommended by Jiangsu Guojin Investment Group, as a non-executive director; Wang Huaiqing and Zhou Yi were nominated as executive directors for the seventh board. Wang Huaiqing's selection had long been anticipated by the market. As early as late November 2025, the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee Organization Department announced a pre-appointment公示, indicating Wang Huaiqing was slated for a senior leadership role in a provincial-administered enterprise, leading market speculation that he would succeed Zhang Wei as the new chairman of Huatai Securities. Since November 2025, Wang Huaiqing has served as the Party Committee Secretary of Huatai Securities. Currently, he also holds positions as a director of Jiangsu Yida Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. and Vice Chairman of Jiangsu Zijin Cultural Industry Development Fund (Limited Partnership). Born in February 1970, Wang Huaiqing is now 56 years old and has held positions at the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Finance, Jiangsu Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce, Jiangsu Trust, and Guoxin Group. Starting in 2022, Wang Huaiqing assumed the roles of Party Committee Secretary and Chairman of Jiangsu High-tech Investment Group, a tenure now spanning three years. Jiangsu High-tech Investment Group holds a 3.95% stake in Huatai Securities, making it the fifth-largest shareholder. Among the current board nominees, both Wang Huaiqing and Ke Xiang are from Jiangsu High-tech Investment Group. The market anticipates that the new leader will bring fresh momentum. Particularly for Huatai Securities, which has surpassed trillion-yuan in assets, operating in a fiercely competitive market environment makes gaining market share increasingly challenging. Ahead of Huatai Securities are the two brokerage giants, CITIC Securities and Guotai Haitong, while close behind are contenders like GF Securities and China Galaxy Securities. As of the end of the third quarter of 2025, CITIC Securities reported total assets of 2.03 trillion yuan, and Guotai Haitong reached 2.009 trillion yuan, both having crossed the 2 trillion yuan threshold. In contrast, Huatai Securities held third place with total assets of 1.03 trillion yuan, trailing the top two by a significant trillion-yuan gap. Meanwhile, GF Securities and China Galaxy Securities reported total assets of 953.436 billion yuan and 861.093 billion yuan, respectively, both striving to reach the trillion-yuan scale. In terms of profitability, Huatai Securities also has room for improvement. As one of the top three brokerages, Huatai's profit growth rate still lags behind that of CITIC Securities and Guotai Haitong. For the first three quarters of 2025, Huatai Securities achieved total revenue of 27.129 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.55%, with net profit attributable to shareholders of 12.733 billion yuan, up 1.69%. Looking solely at the third quarter, revenue was 10.909 billion yuan, down 6.94% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders was 5.183 billion yuan, a significant decrease of 28.11%, marking a dual decline in both revenue and profit. In comparison, CITIC Securities and Guotai Haitong reported revenue growth rates of 32.7% and 101.6%, respectively, for the first three quarters of 2025, with net profit growth rates of 37.86% and 131.8%. Huatai Securities has already begun implementing cost controls. In the first three quarters of 2025, the company's total operating expenses were 12.613 billion yuan, an increase of 10.75% year-on-year. Within this, business and management expenses amounted to 11.702 billion yuan, a reduction of 109 million yuan compared to the previous year. Reviewing the first half of 2025, the Huatai Securities Group had 15,027 employees, a decrease of 1,937 from the 16,964 employees at the end of the previous year. Furthermore, from January to June 2025, the total pre-tax compensation received by Huatai Securities' directors, supervisors, and senior management from the company was 9.254 million yuan, down from 9.3603 million yuan in the same period last year.
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