To enhance the efficiency of capital utilization, listed companies commonly use idle funds for investment and financial management. Some are keen on purchasing cash financial products, while others prefer trading stocks in the secondary market, leading to significant differences in investment returns among various companies. As the disclosure of A-share annual reports enters its peak phase, last year's investment income has also become a major point of interest.

Overall, the net investment income of A-share listed companies that have published their annual reports for 2023 has declined compared to the previous year. As of the evening of April 13, 1558 companies had disclosed their net investment income for 2023, with a total amount of 958.95 billion yuan, compared to 1099.713 billion yuan in the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 12.8%. Among them, 298 companies suffered a net loss in investment income, accounting for about 20%, with some companies incurring losses due to stock trading.

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The overall investment income of insurance funds has decreased, while top securities firms have grown against the trend.

Against the backdrop of a relatively sluggish A-share market in 2023, the investment income of listed companies has attracted particular attention from the market. Data shows that among the aforementioned 1558 listed companies, 101 had a net investment income exceeding 1 billion yuan in 2023, with the industry distribution remaining unchanged from previous years. This includes 24 non-bank financial institutions, 19 banks, 13 transportation companies, and 5 each from the automotive and real estate sectors.

Twenty-one listed companies had a net investment income exceeding 10 billion yuan in 2023, distributed across the financial sectors of banking, insurance, and securities. China Life (601628.SH) had a net investment income of 198.207 billion yuan in 2023, temporarily ranking first in both markets, with a net investment income rate of 3.77%. In 2022, China Life's net investment income was also the largest in the entire market.

Insurance funds have always been major investors, but in 2023, the investment income of the five listed insurance companies showed a "one rise, four declines" pattern, with a total investment income decreasing by 15.24% year-on-year. Only Ping An Insurance (601318.SH) achieved a positive growth in total investment income compared to 2022, reaching 123.899 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.78%. The total investment incomes of China Pacific, China People's Insurance, China Life, and New China Life in 2023 were 44.115 billion yuan, 52.237 billion yuan, 141.968 billion yuan, and 22.251 billion yuan, respectively, with year-on-year changes of -19.7%, -28.3%, -24.38%, and -50.03%.

Apart from insurance, among state-owned large banks, ICBC, ABC, and Bank of Communications (601328.SH) ranked at the forefront in terms of net investment income in 2023, with year-on-year growth rates all reaching double digits. Among them, Bank of Communications reached 26.028 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 70.3%, mainly due to the year-on-year increase in related income from equity investments by its subsidiaries. Among joint-stock banks, CITIC Bank (601998.SH) saw a year-on-year growth rate of 30.96% in net investment income in 2023, increasing from 19.727 billion yuan in the same period of the previous year to 25.834 billion yuan.

In the securities sector, CICC (601995.SH), Huatai Securities, and Guotai Junan (601211.SH) temporarily rank in the top three for net investment income, with 15.084 billion yuan, 13.281 billion yuan, and 10.855 billion yuan, respectively, all achieving double-digit year-on-year growth, with Guotai Junan's growth rate reaching 49.4%.

At the end of 2023, CICC's equity investment amount increased by 1.0117 billion yuan year-on-year, a growth rate of 18.23%, mainly due to the net income generated by securities held due to the follow-investment in the STAR Market compared to the net loss in 2022. In addition, CICC's net bond investment income also increased by 586 million yuan, while other investment income decreased by 1.6388 billion yuan year-on-year, mainly due to a significant decrease in the scale of private equity fund investments.

Apart from non-bank financial and bank stocks, among the top 20 in terms of net investment income, SAIC Motor (600104.SH) is the only manufacturing company, with a net investment income of 14.949 billion yuan in 2023, a slight increase of about 250 million yuan compared to 14.702 billion yuan in the same period of the previous year.Additionally, China Mobile, PetroChina (601857.SH), and GAC Group all achieved net investment income of over 8 billion yuan in 2023; leading energy stocks such as Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (300750.SZ), Zijin Mining, Tianqi Lithium, China Coal Energy, and China Shenhua also saw net investment income exceeding 3 billion yuan.

Among the 101 companies with net investment income over 1 billion yuan in 2023, PetroChina experienced the most significant change. The company reported a net investment loss of 11.14 billion yuan in 2022, which turned into a profit of 9.554 billion yuan in 2023. This was primarily due to a substantial decrease in investment losses from the disposal of derivative financial instruments, which had a loss of 28.931 billion yuan in the previous year and a loss of 11.019 billion yuan in 2023.

In the list of companies with net investment losses in 2023, China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (601186.SH) temporarily tops the list with a loss of 4.23 billion yuan, followed by China Southern Airlines, China Overseas Land & Investment Limited, China Metallurgical Group, China Communications Construction, and Foxconn Industrial Internet, among others.

China Railway Construction Corporation Limited has recorded net investment losses for three consecutive years, with a loss of 4.665 billion yuan in 2022 and 193 million yuan in 2021. By the end of 2023, the company held 23 stocks, 2 funds, and 2 trust products, with the fair value change of its securities investment resulting in a loss of 33.707 million yuan. The significant net investment loss was mainly due to the termination of financial assets measured at amortized cost, leading to a loss of 5.563 billion yuan in this accounting item.

Eight listed companies hold more than 10 stocks, with Anderlee being the most enthusiastic about stock trading.

The securities investment income of listed companies is the most watched focus during the annual report season. Wind data shows that among the 2023 annual reports published, 309 listed companies disclosed information on securities investment, with 8 companies holding more than 10 A-shares, including China Railway Construction Corporation Limited, China Communications Construction (601800.SH), Anderlee (605198.SH), China Railway Group Limited (601390.SH), Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, and Changyuan Donggu, among others. However, overall, purchasing bonds and money market funds were the main directions of securities investment for listed companies last year, with some companies investing hundreds of millions of funds in stock trading.

Among the aforementioned 309 listed companies, 156 had securities investment amounts exceeding 100 million yuan, with a total of 41 companies exceeding 1 billion yuan. Shenwan Hongyuan Group (000166.SZ) and PetroChina Financial (000617.SZ) had securities investment amounts of 385.77 billion yuan and 238.404 billion yuan, respectively, being the only two companies with securities investment amounts over 100 billion yuan in the disclosed annual reports. However, neither invested in stocks, focusing mainly on bonds.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited's securities investment amount temporarily ranks third at 32.447 billion yuan, with the company holding stocks including Luoyang Molybdenum (603993.SH), Pioneer Smart, LQ Resources, Tianhua New Energy, Yongfu Shares, Hunan Yuneng, and 10 others, mostly companies in the upstream and downstream of the new energy battery industry chain. Among them, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited bought 26.747 billion yuan worth of Luoyang Molybdenum stocks in 2023, achieving an investment income of 1.92 billion yuan, with Luoyang Molybdenum's stock price rising by 15.97% last year.

China Railway Group Limited holds the most number of securities, with 73 securities products by the end of 2023, the vast majority being funds, and a total of 13 stocks, including Huaxi Securities, China Railway Signal & Communication, Hainan Airlines Holding, Liaoning Chengda, and China Resources Double Crane, among others. During the reporting period, China Railway Group Limited's net investment income loss was 71.229 million yuan, with the proceeds from the disposal of long-term equity investments nearly 200 million yuan less than the previous year.

China Communications Construction holds 42 stocks, including 4 Hong Kong stocks and 38 A-shares, with China Merchants Bank, China Merchants Securities, and Yutong Bus being the stocks with the highest book value at the end of the period. During the reporting period, China Communications Construction's fair value loss from securities investment was 3.602 billion yuan, with a net investment income loss of 894 million yuan in 2023.Leading in net investment income, SAIC Group, as of the end of the reporting period, all of its securities investments were A-share stocks, totaling 10 companies. During the reporting period, there was an unrealized loss of 1.166 million yuan, with a book value of 9.014 billion yuan, accounting for 6% of the company's total financial assets of about 152.3 billion yuan. SAIC Group's holdings are all leading stocks in their respective industries, such as China Merchants Bank (600036.SH), Long-term Lithium Technology, Huahong Company, Tianyue Cash, and Giant One Technology. China Merchants Bank is the stock with the largest investment by SAIC Group, with a book value of 86.277 million yuan at the end of the period, still showing a decent book profit compared to the initial investment cost of 36.811 million yuan. SAIC Group's initial investment amounts in the remaining nine stocks are relatively low, with seven of them being less than one million yuan.

Andeli is a solid "stock trading giant". By the end of 2023, the company held 26 A-share stocks and 8 public mutual funds. The stocks held are mainly concentrated in the electronics and energy industries, including SMIC, Shaanxi Energy, Yonyou Network, BOC Securities, Inspur Information, Yankuang Energy, and Shangji Numerical Control, etc.; the funds cover Agricultural ETF, Securities ETF, Military ETF, STAR 50 ETF, etc., almost buying all the popular ETFs. By the end of 2023, Andeli's total amount of securities investment reached 482 million yuan, with a loss of 34.7514 million yuan during the period, and the company's net profit attributable to the parent company for the period was 255 million yuan.