Net profit hits a new high! The first annual report of A-share futures companies is released

Among the four futures companies listed on the A-share market, Nanhua Futures has taken the lead in delivering its performance report for 2025.

On the evening of March 27, Nanhua Futures’ performance report showed that it achieved an operating income of 1.388 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 2.45%; it realized a net profit attributable to shareholders of 486 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.18%, with net profit reaching a historical high. At the same time, the company plans to implement a capital increase of 4.5 shares for every 10 shares and distribute a cash dividend of 0.69 yuan (tax included).

From a scale perspective, Nanhua Futures has seen simultaneous expansion on both the asset and equity sides. By the end of 2025, the company’s total assets reached 65.473 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33.99%; the total equity attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 5.596 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.98%. In terms of its business foundation, the equity scale of domestic futures brokerage clients reached 38.982 billion yuan, demonstrating a steady growth trend.

Brokerage Business Transformation, Risk Management Business Continues to Strengthen

In 2025, the global economy experienced increased volatility due to the interplay of geopolitical conflicts, trade frictions, and policy adjustments, with commodity prices showing both fluctuations and differentiation, leading to a significant rise in risk management demands from real enterprises. Meanwhile, China’s futures market continued to develop with a dual approach of expansion and opening up.

Data shows that the total number of futures and options varieties increased to 164 throughout the year, with total market funds surpassing 2 trillion yuan, and the number of effective clients exceeding 2.7 million, with institutional clients accounting for over 65% of positions. The “insurance + futures” model continued to expand, further enhancing the futures market’s ability to serve the real economy. The cumulative trading volume for the year reached 9.074 billion contracts, with a trading value of 76.625 trillion yuan, marking year-on-year increases of 17.4% and 23.74%, respectively, resulting in a noticeable improvement in market activity.

However, as the industry’s prosperity improved, the competitive landscape was also being reshaped. On the one hand, strong regulation continued to be enforced, with supporting systems for the Futures and Derivatives Law being continuously improved, and the new “National Nine Articles” clearly emphasized functionality and risk prevention; on the other hand, traditional channel business faced profit pressure, forcing futures companies to shift towards risk management and wealth management, with capital strength, technological capabilities, and professional talents becoming key differentiators.

As a traditional core business, the futures brokerage business faced the industry-wide challenge of “increased production without increased revenue” in 2025. Intensified homogenization competition led to continued pressure on commission rates.

In response, Nanhua Futures stated in its annual report that the company proactively adjusted its strategic direction, focusing on institutional and industrial clients to optimize its business structure. On one hand, the company deepened its engagement with diverse financial institution clients such as private equity, insurance, and securities, continuously expanding its special institutional client group; on the other hand, it increased its service efforts towards industrial clients, especially listed companies and leading enterprises, enhancing client loyalty through comprehensive services such as delivery and hedging.

As the core of the futures company’s transformation, the risk management business continued to strengthen. In 2025, Nanhua Futures promoted collaborative development across three major areas: over-the-counter derivatives, basis trading, and market-making.

Among these, the over-the-counter derivatives business maintained steady growth, with new nominal principal reaching 74.9 billion yuan for the year. Nanhua Futures reinforced its risk control capabilities through system upgrades and institutional improvements while continuously advancing cross-border income swap business, providing enterprises with domestic and international hedging tools. At the same time, leveraging its independently developed commodity index, it explored the application of swaps and over-the-counter options to enhance service precision.

Wealth Management Accelerates Layout, Overseas Business Becomes Key Increment

As the industry’s transformation deepens, wealth management has become a new focal point of competition. Nanhua Futures relies on three major licenses: asset management, fund distribution, and public funds, continuously improving its business system.

In terms of asset management, Nanhua Futures enhanced its collaboration with bank wealth management subsidiaries and trust institutions through strategic innovation and channel expansion, resulting in a more diversified client structure. By the end of 2025, the asset management scale reached 1.081 billion yuan.

The fund distribution business achieved standardized and systematic operations by establishing three major centers: “product - operation - marketing,” with an annual distribution scale reaching 337 million yuan. In terms of public funds, the company adhered to a steady development orientation, with Nanhua Fund’s public fund scale reaching 19.136 billion yuan by the end of the year, gradually forming brand effects.

Against the backdrop of the continuous deepening of two-way opening in China’s futures market, overseas business has become a new growth engine for the industry.

In recent years, the internationalization of China’s futures market has accelerated significantly, with a series of innovative mechanisms, including QFII participation in commodity futures and the listing of “China Price” contracts on overseas exchanges, continuously enhancing global influence.

Nanhua Futures is also accelerating its layout in this process. The company has obtained multiple memberships and clearing qualifications, including CME, LME, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and Singapore Exchange, and has become a holder of warehouse receipts for LME deliveries in Hong Kong, further streamlining the cross-border industrial service chain.

By the end of 2025, the equity of Nanhua Futures’ overseas brokerage clients reached 23.306 billion Hong Kong dollars, and the overseas asset management scale reached 4.812 billion Hong Kong dollars. By strengthening pricing capability, system stability, and customer service systems, the company’s overseas business scale and influence have been simultaneously enhanced.

Nanhua Futures stated that as a listed company in the futures industry, the company’s license layout continued to improve in 2025. Through resource integration and collaborative development among different businesses, a dual-driven pattern of “domestic foundation, overseas breakthrough” was formed, effectively enhancing the company’s overall competitiveness and risk resistance, achieving simultaneous improvement in profit scale and quality.

Industry insiders pointed out that as the futures industry shifts from scale expansion to enhancing functionality and professional competition, future demand for risk management will continue to be released, and with the deepening of opening up, leading futures companies with comprehensive service capabilities and international vision are expected to further consolidate their advantageous positions in the new round of industry reshuffling.

Editor: Wang Lulu

Proofreader: Pan Da