China's leading securities dealer, CITIC Securities, saw its net profits soar 12 times year on year to 1.2 billion yuan (US$154 million) in the first quarter this year.

Earnings per share are estimated at 0.41 yuan. The largest Chinese securities company in terms of assets has a total of nearly 3 billion shares.

China's secondary securities market registered total turnover of 8.63 trillion yuan in the first quarter this year, compared with nine trillion yuan for the whole of last year, according to the Shanghai Securities News.

It is estimated that the country's securities dealers racked up a total of 17.3 billion yuan in commission income in the first three months.

CITIC Securities, founded in 1995, was the first securities dealer in China to launch an initial public offering in 2003 when it was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2007)