SHANGHAI - Haitong Securities, China's second-biggest brokerage by market value, said on Friday that first-half net profit fell nearly one-third from a year ago due to weak stock markets.
China's main stock index was one of the world's worst performers this year, down nearly 27 percent in the first half despite the country's robust economic growth.
The Shanghai composite index fell 23 percent in the second quarter alone amid worries over government tightening and a flood of new equity supply.
Haitong said unaudited net profit fell 27 percent to 1.78 billion yuan in the first half of 2010, compared with 2.44 billion yuan in the same period last year.
First-half revenue dropped 4.3 percent to 3.66 billion yuan from 3.83 billion yuan a year earlier, it said in a brief statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Haitong shares fell nearly 1 percent in morning trading in Shanghai, underperforming the broader market.
Haitong reported in April first-quarter net profit of 1.01 billion yuan, up a marginal 1.6 percent from a year earlier.
Chinese brokerages such as Haitong and Citic Securities saw earnings surge in 2009 as the stock market rallied after Beijing's announcement of a four trillion yuan fiscal stimulus programme to support the economy.
Shares in Haitong haven fallen 53 percent so far this year, outpacing the 26.3 percent drop in the main market index. Shares in top rival Citic were down about 45 percent during the same period.
