Embarking on a New Journey of High-Quality Development
GF Securities Co., Ltd. (GF Securities or the Company, together with its subsidiaries, the Group; HKG: 1776; SZSE: 000776), one of the most influential securities companies in the Chinese capital market, announced its annual results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2022 (the “Reporting Period”). In the face of the complicated internal and external situation, embracing the working philosophy of “making positive changes and promoting the high-quality development of the Company to a new level” and “firmly focus on principal duties and businesses and improve core business”, GF Securities continued to maintain a good momentum with its operating performance at the forefront of the industry, realizing a total revenue and other income of RMB33,256 million and a net profit attributable to shareholders of the Company of RMB7,929 million. As of 31 December 2022, the Group’s total asset amounted to RMB617,256 million, representing an increase of15.19% compared to the end of 2021.
Lin Chuanhui, Chairman and General Manager of GF Securities, said, in 2022, the Company actively explored new business development models and made remarkable progress in various areas of work. Through firmly focusing on its principal duties and businesses, the Company improved its core businesses. The Company implemented the “research + N” business model to empower high-quality development of its core businesses through research. Meanwhile, the Company adhered to the principle of customer first, promoted ecosystem construction of ecosystem, continued to expand its customer base, and injected new impetus into the Company’s reform and development through continuing to strengthen its foundation. The year of 2023 is the first year to fully implement the spirit of the Party’s 20th National Congress. GF Securities will embrace the new development pattern, follow national strategies, strengthen its core capabilities, build a solid customer base, optimize the construction of its platform, effectively serve the real economy, promote common prosperity and the preservation and appreciation of residents’ wealth, and embark on a new journey of high-quality development in the tide of serving Chinese modernization.
As one of the first full-service securities companies in China, GF Securities possesses licenses for a full range of services involved in four business segments, including investment banking, wealth management, trading, and institution and investment management. The Company has successively set up futures subsidiaries, public fund subsidiaries, private fund subsidiaries, alternative investment subsidiaries and asset management subsidiaries etc.. With its value concept and pragmatic entrepreneurial style, the Company has built a full business chain with comprehensive layout and strong strength. The Group has maintained top ranking among the securities companies in China for many consecutive years in terms of main operating indicators, established its leading advantages among securities companies in the core businesses of wealth management, asset management and research, and developed its investment banking business steadily.
Wealth Management Business Maintained Leading Position and Continued to Deepen Transformation
GF Securities has taken the lead in proposing wealth management transformation in the country. It is equipped with excellent financial product research and sales capabilities, and professional asset allocation capabilities. GF Securities has more than 4,200 securities investment consultants, ranking No. 1 in the industry (in terms of parent company caliber). By continously deepening transformation in the area of wealth management, GF Securities is committed to providing precise wealth management services for different types of customers and becoming a first-class trustworthy wealth management institution.
In 2022, the Company continued to expand and optimize its customer base and made achievements in the operation management of high-net-worth customers, professional institutions, listed companies and other customer groups, with the net income from agency sales of financial products and the market share in terms of the balance of public and private funds hitting a new record high. The balance maintained by the agency sales of financial products of the Company recorded a year-on-year increase of 0.77%, and the Company ranked third amongst the securities dealers in terms of the balance of public fund maintained in the agency sales of non-monetary market (Source: Asset Management Association of China, 2023). The sales and transfer amount of financial products on the Yitaojin E-commerce platform (including Cash Return and Taojin Market) amounted to RMB216.6 billion.
At the end of 2022, the Company had 338 branches and business departments nationwide, with presence in 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across the PRC. The number and coverage ratio of business outlets in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and in the nine cities of the Pearl River Delta ranked No. 1 in the industry, providing wide market reach for the Company’s business and important support for customer accumulation and service.
Meanwhile, in the regions outside of the PRC, the Group’s indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary GF securites (Hong Kong) continued its transformation towards wealth management, with a year-on-year growth in both the net sales income and balance of its financial products in spite of the increasing fluctuations in the global market. The number of enterprise customers continued to increase, and the revenue grew gradually.
Investment Management Business Steadily Ranked at the Forefront of the Industry and Brand Influence Improved Continously
In 2022, relying on the advantage of financial group structure, GF Securities has coordinated the superior resources of its asset management institutions, established comprehensive product supply system and provided customers with strategically excellent and diversified products to build a leading asset management brand in the industry. The Company’s business includes the three major fields of asset management, public fund management and private fund management, and covers domestic and overseas markets. In respect of asset management business, GF Asset Management continued to consolidate its core capabilities such as active management, product design and innovation, channel marketing, compliance risk control and financial technology, strengthened infrastructure construction, continuously improved its operation mechanism, managed client assets which are invested in various asset categories with various investment strategies, including fixed-income investment, equity investment, quantitative investment and cross-border products.
In respect of public fund management business, as of the end of 2022, the size of the public funds managed by GF Fund, a controlling subsidiary of the Group, in aggregate reached RMB1,249.737 billion, representing an increase of 10.63% as compared to the end of 2021, and the total fund size excluding money market funds amounted to RMB705.290 billion, ranking third in the industry (Source: Statistics of the Company, WIND, 2023). The public funds managed by E Fund, an invested subsidiary of the Group, in aggregate reached RMB1,572.810 billion, representing a decrease of 7.83% as compared to the end of 2021, and the total public fund size excluding money market funds was RMB1,025.544 billion, ranking first in the industry (Source: Statistics of the Company, WIND, 2023).
In respect of private fund management business, in 2022, the Group’s wholly-owned subsidiary GF Xinde focused on industries as biomedicine, intelligent manufacturing and corporate services. As of the end of 2022, the total size of funds managed by GF Xinde was over RMB15 billion.
In the regions out of the PRC, the Group’s indirectly wholly-owned subsidiary GF Investments (Hong Kong) and institutions thereunder have completed investment mainly in fields of high-end manufacturing, TMT, big consumption and biomedical. Several investment projects have exited by way of mergers and acquisitions, or have been listed on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong, the United States and other regions.
“Research+N” Business Model Empowered Entire Business Chain Development with Strengths Gradually Stood Out
The outstanding research capacity of GF Securities enjoys a high reputation in the industry, with equity research covering over 840 A shares listed companies across 28 industries in the PRC, and nearly 160 companies listed in Hong Kong and overseas. From 2017 to 2022, the Company received the “New Fortune Domestic Best Research Team” and the “New Fortune Most Influential Research Institution”, and “Top 5 Golden Bull Research Institution” award by “China Securities Industry Analyst Golden Bull Award” for consecutive years. Meanwhile, it ranked in the forefront in the selection of “Sell-side Analyst Crystal Ball Award”, “Best Analyst of Shanghai Securities News” and “Golden Kirin Best Analyst of Sina Finance”.
To fully uterlize the Company’s strengths in research, GF Securities proactively implemented the “research+N” business model and strengthened research on the promotion and support of the Company’s core businesses, and empowered the development of the entire business chain of the Company. During the Report Period, by leveraging on its profound insights into the industry and focusing on supporting scientific and technological innovation, the Company coordinated resources to establish an industrial fund to achieve industry researches and promote development of the industry; made efforts to improve its pricing capabilities and facilitate the steady development of the investment banking business; as well as targeted an industrial research institute as a think tank to provide advice and suggestions for regional economic development. Its strengths in research gradually stood out.
Investment Banking Business Developed Steadily with Deployments in Key Industries and Regions
In 2022, GF Securities leveraged the advantages of its platform, reinforced management empowerment, strengthened the quality control of its investment banking business, and made focused deployments in semiconductor, medical and healthcare, new energy vehicle and other industries and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to promote specialized and regionalized development. Besides, the Company continued to promote its internal coordination and further improve its comprehensive financial service capabilities to meet the service demands of customers in all aspects. The equity financing business of the Company developed steadily, and the project reserve of the Company increased significantly. In 2022, the Company completed 17 equity financing projects for which the Company acted as a lead underwriter, and the lead underwritten amount was RMB18.407 billion.
In respect of debt financing business, the Company fully integrated its platform resources and put more efforts to develop customers in key regions. As a result, the project reserve of the Company maintained a steady growth and the bond business of the Company grew steadily. By the end of 2022, the Company acted as the lead underwriter for 188 tranches of bonds, representing a year-on-year increase of 370.00%, with a lead underwritten amount of RMB142.076 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 358.38%. Meanwhile, the Company implemented the concept of green development, proactively served the development strategies of “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality” and the “Belt and Road Initiative” and strengthened the undertaking of responsibility, with a view to making contributions to the high-quality development of the economy and the capital market. During the year, the Company completed the issuance of 15 tranches of green bonds, low-carbon transformation-linked bonds, science and technology innovation bonds, Belt and Road bonds and innovation and entrepreneurship bonds. Among which, the Company underwrote and issued 8 tranches of green bonds and 3 tranches of low-carbon transformation-linked bonds with a total issuance size of RMB121 billion.
Furthermore, the Company adhered to the core principle of discovering value. Leveraging on its outstanding research capabilities, the Company strengthened business synergy and provided highquality integrated services for valued customers. As of the end of 2022, the Company supervised a total of 31 companies listed on the NEEQ as the lead broker, of which 61% were “specialized, sophisticated, distinctive and innovative” enterprises (Source: NEEQ, Statistics of the Company, 2023).
In respect of the overseas investment banking business, the Company’s indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, GF Capital (Hong Kong) completed 24 projects in which it acted as lead underwriter (including IPO, refinancing and bond offering) and financial adviser.
With Outstanding Core Competitive Strengths, Introduce Talents And New Impetus Into Corporate Culture
Looking back at GF Securities’ development for more than 30 years, it has always been in the forefront of the industry. Among the first batch of brokers established from the end of the 1980’s to the early 1990’s, GF Securities is one of the few major brokerage companies which have not accepted investment or undergone restructuring due to operating losses. This is inseparable from GF Securities’ core competitive strengths such as excellent corporate culture, forward-looking strategic doctrine, stable shareholding structure, scientific business layout, outstanding location advantage, and philosophy of compliance and steady development.
GF Securities always maintains a strong sense of family and country, upholds its mission of “creating values to realize the dream of serving the country with financial services”, makes continuous progress in developing its corporate values of “inquisitiveness and integrity” and carries forward its excellent cultural genes of an “army of doctors”. With knowledge as the guarantee and professionalism as the cornerstone, the Company will continue to explore new prospects for development, and actively serve the country’s real economy to improve both in quantity and quality.
The Company has attached great importance to the construction of the cadre and talent system, insisted on its staff-oriented philosophy and professional development, adhered unwaveringly to its concept, and has been successful in action for a long term. Since 1999 when the Company established the first post-doctoral workstation for financial enterprises in China, the Company has been training and exporting professionals for 24 years. In 2022, the Company initiated a new round of strategic planning for the Company’s medium- and long-term development, of which talent team building was an important part.
At the same time, in accordance with the principles of “implementing a sound business philosophy, ensuring the bottom line of compliance, promoting the formation of positive incentives, and enhancing the Company’s long-term value”, the Company promoted the optimization of the remuneration system, further encouraged deferred compensation, and reflected the internal allocation orientation of giving remuneration resources to frontline employees. Under the premise of complying with laws and regulations, practicing with integrity, and abiding by the bottom line, employee remuneration was related to the performance of individual, team and the Company overall. The Company emphasized the balance between incentives and risks, avoided excessive and short-term incentives, and focused on the combination of short-term incentives and medium- and long-term incentives, material incentives and spiritual incentives, and personal growth and team ability development, to ensure the long-term sustainable development of the Company and business.
As of the end of 2022, the operation and management team of the Company has an average of approximately 26 years of experience in securities, finance and economics-related fields and has served an average term of over 17 years in the Company with extensive experience in business and management.
Looking forward, GF Securities will adhere to the combination of goal-oriented and problem-oriented approaches, focus on bringing breakthroughs in key areas to drive overall progress, promote the development of institutional business and operation reform in key areas and regions, promote domestic and overseas linkages in investment banking business and wealth management business, concentrate resources to deepen its operations in key regions such as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta, enhance industrial investment cooperation to achieve effective breakthroughs, carry out our core businesses with higher standards, deploy a long-term strategy to ensure stability and long-term development, to make contributions in serving the real economy.
About GF Securities Co. Ltd
Established in 1991, GF Securities Co., Ltd. is one of the first, full-service securities companies in China. The Company was successfully listed on the main boards of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (Stock code: 000776.SZ), and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (Stock code: 1776.HK), in 2010 and 2015, respectively. With excellent business performance, continual optimised risk management and quality services, the Company has successfully achieved sustainable and steady development, and has become one of the most influential securities companies in China for years. As of December 31, 2021, the Company operated 338 branches and business departments, covering 31 provinces, cities, and autonomous regions throughout China. Its capital strength and profitability remain at the top among all listed securities companies in China. GF Securities has been at the forefront of “Hurun’s Top Brands List” amongst listed Chinese securities companies for six consecutive years from 2015 to 2020. The Company actively fulfils its social responsibilities through “GF Securities Social Charity Foundation”, with its focus on poverty relief and provision of financial support for education, and practises social responsibilities on a voluntary basis, thus leading to the continuous increase in its reputation and brand influence.