HTSC(601688) 长江证券·2025-04-01 08:12Investment Rating - The investment rating for Huatai Securities is "Buy" and is maintained [9]. Core Insights - Huatai Securities reported significant performance improvement in 2024, primarily driven by investment gains from the sale of AssetMark. The company's securities brokerage business showed steady performance, with a notable improvement in platform activity. The leading position in asset management is evident, with rapid growth in both the scale and profits of its public fund subsidiary. The market share in equity IPOs has significantly increased, and asset management scale has stabilized. The long-term leading layout in wealth management and financial technology is expected to continue generating positive effects [2][6]. Summary by Sections Financial Performance - In 2024, Huatai Securities achieved operating revenue of 41.47 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.4%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 15.35 billion yuan, up 20.4%. The weighted average return on equity increased by 1.12 percentage points to 9.24% [6]. Business Segments - The company reported that, excluding the gains from AssetMark, the net profit attributable to shareholders was 9.02 billion yuan, a decrease of 29.3%. The revenue from brokerage, investment banking, asset management, interest, and proprietary trading was 6.45 billion, 2.10 billion, 4.15 billion, 2.70 billion, and 7.31 billion yuan, respectively, with year-on-year changes of +8.2%, -31.0%, -2.6%, +184.0%, and -48.7% [6]. Brokerage Business - The brokerage business performed steadily, with a market average daily trading volume of 1.06 trillion yuan, an increase of 21.2% year-on-year. The net income from agency trading and seat leasing rose by 15.5% to 5.48 billion yuan. The monthly active users of the company's securities app, Zhangle Wealth, reached 11.5 million, a year-on-year increase of 22.6% [6]. Asset Management - As of the end of 2024, Huatai Securities held equity and bond fund sizes of 120.2 billion and 166.6 billion yuan, respectively, with year-on-year changes of -10.6% and +4.3%. The company’s subsidiaries, Southern Fund and Huatai Baichuan Fund, had non-monetary management scales of 648.5 billion and 565.7 billion yuan, respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of +32.7% and +98.7% [6]. IPO Market Share - In a tightening equity financing environment, the company’s equity IPO, refinancing, and bond underwriting scales were 85.4 billion, 463.6 billion, and 1,289.6 billion yuan, with year-on-year changes of -50.8%, -37.3%, and +4.6%. The corresponding market shares were 12.9%, 20.8%, and 9.1%, with increases of 8.0 percentage points, 10.8 percentage points, and 0.002 percentage points, respectively [6]. Financial Assets and Investment Returns - By the end of 2024, the company reduced its financial asset scale to 359.8 billion yuan, a decrease of 25.0% year-on-year. The estimated static self-operated investment return rate was 2.9%, down 0.79 percentage points year-on-year [6]. Future Outlook - Huatai Securities is positioned as a pioneer in technology-enabled brokerage, successfully developing leading technology platforms such as "Zhangle Wealth" and "Xingzhi". The leading layout in wealth management and financial technology is expected to continue generating positive effects. The projected net profits attributable to shareholders for 2025 and 2026 are 11.81 billion and 13.40 billion yuan, respectively, corresponding to price-to-book ratios of 0.91 and 0.84 [6].