As the annual report season unfolds, securities firms are releasing their financial results. On the evening of March 26, Everbright Securities disclosed its 2025 performance: the company achieved annual operating revenue of 10.852 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.06%, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 3.724 billion yuan, up 21.77% year-on-year, marking growth in both revenue and profit.
Notably, Everbright Securities' performance growth in 2025 exhibited a clear reliance on a single segment. The wealth management business cluster, which contributes the highest proportion of the company's revenue, accounted for 55% of total revenue, generating 6 billion yuan in annual income, an increase of over 25% compared to the previous year. This growth was primarily driven by the active trading in the A-share market in 2025, with the average daily trading volume across the market rising by more than 70% year-on-year. Benefiting from this trend, the company added 762,000 new retail accounts, bringing the total number of clients to over 7.165 million. The balance of margin lending and securities lending also grew by 31.71%, reaching 54.386 billion yuan.
However, growth in other core business segments remained weak or even declined. The corporate finance business cluster reported revenue of only 900 million yuan, a modest increase of just 2% year-on-year. Although revenue from equity financing business grew by 57% year-on-year, the segment completed only five projects, far fewer than the dozens typically handled by industry leaders, indicating a gradual erosion of market share.
The equity investment business cluster reported a loss of 100 million yuan, with revenue declining by 228% year-on-year. This segment has underperformed for several consecutive years, becoming a persistent drag on the company's overall results.
The series of lawsuits and compensations stemming from the MPS project involving its wholly-owned subsidiary, Everbright Capital, has remained a lingering "historical shadow" over Everbright Securities since 2018. In 2025, the company continued to address these liabilities. According to the annual report, Everbright Capital reached an enforcement settlement agreement with China Merchants Bank, agreeing to pay 2.24 billion yuan in installments over four years to fulfill a final judgment. By the end of the year, 1.81 billion yuan had been repaid. A 400 million yuan settlement with Hua Rui Bank has also been fully paid.
However, as old cases remain unresolved, new lawsuits have emerged. In 2025, Everbright Capital was sued by Shanghai Longqian over the MPS project and was ordered in early 2026 to pay approximately 45.16 million yuan in a first-instance judgment. Disputes with other investors, including Yingtan Langtaosha, have also entered the enforcement stage.
As of the end of the reporting period, Everbright Securities' estimated liability balance related to the MPS project still stood as high as 548 million yuan. Although the company stated it would continue to assess the situation based on developments, the complexity of the matter suggests that associated legal risks and financial losses may continue to surface intermittently for an extended period, posing an ongoing threat to profitability.
If the MPS incident represents a "Waterloo" for the investment business, the Jintongling case directly highlights deficiencies in the professional quality of the investment banking operations. On December 31, 2025, the Nanjing Intermediate Court issued a first-instance judgment in the Jintongling securities misrepresentation liability dispute, ordering Jintongling Company to compensate more than 43,000 investors for investment losses totaling 775 million yuan. The judgment explicitly stated that civil compensation liabilities for Everbright Securities and 25 other defendants would "continue to be tried, with separate rulings to be issued." Although the final compensation amount for Everbright Securities cannot yet be determined, it is an established fact that, as the independent financial advisor for the project, the company failed to exercise due diligence during Jintongling's six-year financial fraud period from 2017 to 2022.
Moreover, compliance risks in other business lines have frequently surfaced. In underwriting business: as the lead underwriter, the company was sued by China Merchants Fund over securities-related liability disputes involving Luowa Technology Industry Group, involving approximately 45.0265 million yuan. In custody business: as a custodian, the company faced arbitration initiated by investors over fund contract disputes, involving about 17.3039 million yuan. In overseas operations: in early 2026, Walton Enterprises Limited filed two lawsuits against Everbright Securities International concerning joint venture contract disputes, involving approximately 24 million yuan and 319 million yuan, respectively, both currently under the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong High Court.