Nanhua Futures Co.,Ltd. (02691) disclosed its operational data for the first quarter of 2026 on the evening of April 20, officially releasing the futures industry's first Q1 performance report. The data shows the company achieved revenue of 430 million yuan in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 60%. Net profit reached 204 million yuan, surging 138% compared to the same period last year, while the weighted average return on equity stood at 3.6%. This impressive performance fully demonstrates that Nanhua Futures' dual-driver strategy of "consolidating the domestic base while achieving breakthroughs overseas" is progressively yielding results.
In the domestic market, Nanhua Futures leveraged its local resource advantages and professional services amid a recovery in domestic capital market activity, steadily strengthening its foundational business to provide stable support for earnings growth. The company improved its tiered customer service system and optimized trading system response efficiency, leading to steady growth in both client equity and revenue scales. Facing challenges like pressure on futures brokerage commission rates and intensified homogeneous competition within the industry, Nanhua Futures proactively optimized its business structure by focusing on institutional and industrial clients. It deepened relationships with financial institutions such as private funds, insurance companies, and securities firms to expand its base of special corporate clients, while also enhancing services for listed companies and leading industrial enterprises, using comprehensive financial services like delivery and hedging to strengthen client loyalty. Concurrently, the company actively promoted innovative businesses including basis trading, over-the-counter derivatives, and market-making activities. Through refined operations, it navigated industry challenges posed by the low-interest-rate environment and regulatory adjustments, achieving synergistic growth across brokerage, risk management, and wealth management business lines, thereby maintaining a steady upward trend in its domestic operations.
Internationally, markets are becoming a significant growth driver for Nanhua Futures. During the reporting period, the company accelerated the coordination of its global network and product adaptation, significantly enhancing client coverage and business penetration in European and North American markets. The operational capabilities of its overseas subsidiaries under local regulatory frameworks continued to improve. This structural breakthrough marks the company's transition from "going global" to "embedding locally," laying a solid foundation for its medium-to-long-term "deep internationalization" strategy. In recent years, the internationalization of China's futures market has accelerated noticeably, with a series of mechanism innovations—such as QFII participation in commodity futures and the listing of "China price" contracts on foreign exchanges—continuously boosting its global influence. Presently, Nanhua Futures' overseas licensing system is steadily upgrading; it has accumulated 19 membership qualifications and 15 clearing member seats, covering exchanges including the CME Group, LME, HKEX, SGX, and ICE Europe, spanning the entire business spectrum of futures, securities, asset management, and foreign exchange, positioning it in the top tier of Chinese futures institutions.
Against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions and supply chain restructuring, the strategic importance of commodities has become increasingly prominent, with sectors like energy and precious metals experiencing high volatility, leading to rising risk management demands from实体 enterprises. As a crucial risk management platform, the futures market utilizes tools such as forward pricing and hedging to help companies lock in costs and smooth profits, transforming market uncertainties into manageable operational metrics. Nanhua Futures, leveraging its professional investment research, pricing capabilities, and product design strengths, provides efficient derivative risk management solutions for实体 enterprises and institutional investors. This helps clients effectively hedge price risks and seize market opportunities, driving increased activity and contributions in related business areas and fulfilling the core mission of financial services supporting the real economy.
The first-quarter results validate the effectiveness of the "dual-driver" model combining domestic and international operations. A representative from Nanhua Futures stated that looking ahead, the company will firmly anchor its strategic direction towards "deep internationalization." While consolidating its domestic foundation, it will further increase resource allocation and strategic investment in advantageous overseas regions. The company will actively integrate into China's Belt and Road Initiative and the broader context of high-level opening-up, fully acting as a "connector" and "hub." On one hand, it will serve as an escort for Chinese clients expanding overseas, providing round-the-clock, localized risk management and financial support as Chinese companies go global. On the other hand, it will act as a guide for foreign clients investing in China, establishing convenient and efficient cross-border channels to attract more international capital for orderly allocation into the Chinese market.
Industry observers note that as China's futures market continues to open up, futures companies with global service capabilities and cross-border resource integration skills will encounter greater development opportunities. Leveraging its mature dual-driver model and ongoing international expansion, Nanhua Futures is poised to play a leading role in serving the real economy and advancing financial openness, steadily progressing towards its goal of becoming a world-class comprehensive derivatives service provider.