Chinese brokerages post big profits in 2014

Chinese brokerage firms saw surging profits in 2014 boosted by easing measures from policymakers, the Securities Association of China (SAC) said.
Combined net profits of 120 brokerage firms totaled 96.55 billion yuan (15.78 billion U.S. dollars) in 2014, surging 119.34 percent from 2013, according to SAC.
The aggregate revenues of these brokerages hit 260.28 billion yuan last year, up 63.45 percent compared with 2013, China's News Agency (Xinhua) reported.
The sector's strong performance was attributed to bullish Chinese shares in the last quarter of 2014, thanks to the recovering economic climate and easing measures from the central government.
China's A shares raised 724.9 billion yuan in 2014, with 47.1 billion yuan raised through the initial public offerings (IPO) of 94 enterprises, and 677.8 billion yuan from refunding by 609 listed companies, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) revealed.