China's CITIC Securities posts 54% rise in Q3 profit

[SHANGHAI] China's biggest brokerage, CITIC Securities Co Ltd , posted a rise of 54 per cent in third-quarter earnings, a slowdown from the firm's earlier surging growth.

Net profit in June through September rose to 3.52 billion yuan (US$553.69 million) from 2.29 billion yuan a year earlier, the company said in an unaudited exchange filing on Thursday.

CITIC Securities benefited from the resumption of the initial public offerings (IPO) market in January and a stock market surge that began in November, both of which led to the fastest first-half profit growth in 9 years.

But CITIC's profits in the third-quarter slowed from their earlier breakneck speed, as China's stock markets swooned in mid-June, leading to an IPO curb in early July.

CITIC has also been hit by investigations into its general manager and other employees for suspected insider trading.

REUTERS