Huatai Securities, China's tenth largest securities firm based upon assets, said Friday its profits in the first half of 2010 declined 19 percent from one year earlier due to decreases in brokerage revenues and investment losses.

Net profits during the first six months stood at 1.4 billion yuan($206.8 million), and business revenues over this period were down 13.9 percent year-on-year to 3.6 billion yuan, the company said in its interim results filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Further, brokerage commission incomes slid 28.2 percent from one year ago as increasingly fierce competition reduced brokerage fees, while stock investment profits slumped 76.4 percent thanks to the poor performance of China's stock market since the beginning of this year, according to the report.

Lastly, earnings per share totaled 0.27 yuan, representing a year-on-year decline of 31.7 percent.