Net income attributable to Noah shareholders for the full year 2019 was RMB 829.2m ($119.1m), a 2.2% increase from the full year 2018, according to the firm’s unaudited financial results, released today.
The increase was driven by the growth of recurring fees and other service fees, a spokeswoman for the firm told FSA.
The net profit increase was lower than in 2018, when it was up 6.3%.
Especially hard was the fourth quarter in 2019. Net income attributable to shareholders fell to RMB 102.8m, a 34% decrease from the corresponding period in 2018.
“The past year we experienced external pressures from an economic downturn, the turbulent situation in Hong Kong, Sino-US trade tensions and a changing financial regulatory landscape in China,” Yi Zhao, group president of Noah, said in the statement.
“On top of the external headwinds, we have been proactively seeking transformation in terms of products and service strategies to meet our client’s changing demands,” Zhao added.
According to Zhao, Noah reached its net income attributable to shareholders guidance of RMB 1bn – 1.1bn and net margin of 30.6%.
In August 2019, the firm took down its guidance for net income, citing mainly macro-economic conditions.
The huge impact on global markets and the worldwide shutdown of economic activity was mentioned briefly by Grant Pan, CFO, in a conference call this morning.
“For the first quarter of this year, we expect the [coronavirus] impact on conventional financial products to be limited. We are reasonably confident on the recovery or even moderate growth of total transactions in 2020,” he added.
Another NYSE-listed Chinese wealth management firm, Jupai Holdings, reported a net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders for the full year 2019 of RMB 164.7m ($23.7m).
Noah’s wealth management division (RMB)
| 2018 | 2019 | YoY change | |
| Net revenues | 3.29bn | 3.39bn | 3.10% |
| Net income attributable to shareholders | 811.3m | 829.2m | 2.20% |
