Profits of brokerages fall in April

Brokerages in China saw their net profits slump in April, in a gloomy A-share market.

Thirteen listed brokerages released financial data for April on Tuesday. They showed an aggregate net profit of 1.288 billion yuan ($207.7 million), 27 percent down from March, Shanghai Securities Journal said.

Citic Securities, China's biggest publicly listed brokerage, said its net profit in April fell by 41 percent year-on-year, to 223 million yuan. Its revenue also dropped — by 28 percent from last year to 580 million yuan.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 2.62 percent in April and at one stage went under the psychological level of 2,200 over concerns about market liquidity and weaker-than-expected economic recovery.

China has 114 brokerages. They posted combined net profits in 2012 of 37.6 billion yuan, representing an 18.7 percent year-on-year decrease.