CITIC Securities Company Limited (CSILTD)

CITIC Securities’ current credit strength can be assessed as a high-ranking major market-based financial credit supported by CITIC Group-related support expectations and a leading franchise in China’s securities industry. However, its strength is not deposit-bank-type stability. It is based on securities-company scale, earnings power, regulatory capital, liquidity, market access and group importance. It is consistent with the rating headline available from public secondary information, but this report’s judgement does not depend on the original rating agency report. The credit direction is basically stable. The 2025 earnings recovery and high level of profit in 2026 Q1 are positive factors, but given the size of Trading, total asset expansion and dependence on market funding, this is not yet a phase for rapid upward reassessment. The probability of rapid near-term credit deterioration is not high, but if simultaneous stress in China’s capital markets, deterioration in repo, collateral and short-term funding conditions, changes in CITIC Group support expectations, and major regulatory or conduct events overlap, funding conditions and spreads may react before earnings do.

The credit is supported by the company’s leading position in China’s securities industry, A+H listing and broad business licences, integrated capabilities in investment banking, brokerage, Trading, asset management and overseas businesses, ties with CITIC Financial Holdings / CITIC Limited / CITIC Group, profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of RMB30.076bn in 2025, parent-company risk coverage ratio of 216.14% and liquidity coverage ratio of 179.20% at end-March 2026, and domestic and overseas funding channels. These factors position CITIC Securities above ordinary small securities companies and support market access and investor confidence.

Meanwhile, the largest constraint is that earnings and the balance sheet are highly linked to market conditions. A large part of 2025 profit was supported by strong Trading and Brokerage, both of which are sensitive to market declines, volatility, client flows, financial asset valuation, repo terms and collateral needs. The expansion of total assets to RMB2.082tn at end-2025 and RMB2.245tn at end-March 2026 also needs to be viewed not simply as growth but as an increase in risk volume. For securities companies, funding conditions and collateral needs can change before earnings deteriorate, so P/L alone cannot fully capture credit changes.