Brokers' profits surge on stock-market rally

BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- China's listed brokerage companies reported stellar performance last month as a stock-market rally boosted their profit margin.

After Chinalin Securities released its February data Friday evening, all 35 brokerage companies traded on Shanghai or Shenzhen exchanges showed soaring revenues and even more eye-catching profits.

Combined revenues amounted to nearly 20 billion yuan (about 3 billion U.S. dollars) last month, more than triple that of a year ago. Total net profits gained sixfold to 9.38 billion yuan.

Haitong Securities posted the biggest profit of 934 million yuan, followed by Guotai Junan Securities with 928 million yuan and CITIC Securities with 815 million yuan.

Chinese shares turned bullish since the beginning of the year and gathered stronger upward momentum in February, with a sharp rebound in daily trading volume and an upsurge in brokers' commission fees.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surged 5.6 percent to close at 2,961.28 on Feb. 25, the highest close since mid-June 2018.