Pearl Peng (彭艳）
The writer is with Aries Consulting in Hong Kong and can be reached at
Wang Wenming, chairman, First China Financial.
HONGKONG - IN A boardroom with an ocean view, we met Mr Wang Wenming, the chairman of First China Financial Group whose office is in Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon.
The interior design was modern with touches of classical Chinese culture. Mr Wang is an avid collector of Chinese landscape paintings, which he considers a way of self-cultivation and an escape from his busy schedule.
First China has achieved growing revenue and profits since its establishment in 2002. It was chosen as one of “Shenzhen Futian District’s Top 100 Taxpaying Enterprises” in 2003 and 2004 with annual tax payment of over RMB 10,000,000.
Mr Wang has also been elected as a congressman of the 4th term of the People’s Congress for Shenzhen Municipality (深圳市人大代表).
10 years on
First China Financial was ranked No. 16 among the top 50 leading companies in market capitalization on GEM (Growth Enterprise Market) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January 2009.
In early 1999, the pioneer management team developed the concept of an alliance between medium and small brokers in Hong Kong so they would benefit from economies of scale and from the ASP services of the united network.
First China Financial Group
Thus was formed, in early 2002, the International Financial Network Holdings Lt (“IFN”) (国际金融社控股有限公司) to provide a trading platform to more than 180 medium and small brokers in Hong Kong. These brokers subsequently became the founding shareholders of IFN, which went on to become listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in 2002.
As the market boomed so did IFN and its affiliates which expanded into securities and futures brokering, corporate finance, wealth management, brokering infrastructure and direct investment.
Geographic expansion took place in mid-2007, with a foray into the PRC through the acquisition of First China Securities Consultancy (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd (“First China Shenzhen”), a leading stock information service provider in mainland China.
In June 2008, IFN changed its name to First China Financial Holdings Limited (First China Group).
First China Shenzhen operates a financial information service business, providing financial information and/or programmes via the Internet. It wide range of parties includes clients of securities companies, investors and Internet portal companies in the PRC.
In May 2008, First China Group acquired 100% stake of Shenzhen An He Xin Insurance Brokers Co., Ltd, (now named Shenzhen First China Insurance Brokers Co., Ltd) which held a insurance brokering licence in mainland PRC.
| 3 months ended Sept 30 | 9 months ended Sept 30 | |||
| HK$’000 | 2008 | 2007 | 2008 | 2007 |
Revenue | 15,673 | 45,494 | 80,679 | 57,540 |
| Net profit | 1,212 | (8,578) | 19,195 | (17,366) |
Business Scope
First China Financial Holdings Limited provides a full range of financial services and electronic trading platforms in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China.
The Company’s financial services includes a trading platform, brokerage and securities margin financing, and wealth management, as well as infrastructure broking services comprising trading, clearing and settlement, and corporate finance services.
It also provides stock information and research, trading and principal investment, securities and futures brokerage, and fund management services.
First China also operates an online video portal “Stock Online” www.secon.cn with 2 million page views daily. It has 80,000 subscribers for its stock information services as at end of October 2008.
The online portal has close relationships with reputable financial portal websites and institutions, such as sina.com, PPLIVE, Union Securities and Hua Tai Securities.
The Company recently started strategic collaboration with ifeng.com, which has special columns introducing various channels of the Phoenix TV, including the Chinese Channel, News Channel, Movie Channel, Europe Channel, America Channel, and the magazine Phoenix Weekly.
In addition, the Company established alliances with the likes of Shenzhen Telecom, Zhuhai Telecom, Zhongshan Telecom, Xinjiang Communications, Nanjing Digital TV, and Guangzhou TV station.
Management
Aside from Mr Wang, the company’s deep talent includes the CEO, Kenny Lee Yiu Sun, who also is the Compliance Officer and Qualified Accountant of the Company. He has over 20 years of experience in the securities and financial service sector. He has been the Chairman of the Hong Kong Stockbrokers Association since September 2007.
Future Plans
First China provides high quality service to a market where quality information is relatively scarce for medium and small investors.
Mr Wang told us that his vision is for First China Financial Holdings to become one of the most renowned financial information service providers in Mainland China.
