Increased brokerage income boosted by the booming A-share market, together with healthy asset management business, helped swell the profits of most securities companies in China in January.

The 12 brokerages listed on the A-share market posted a combined net profit of 1.83 billion yuan ($294 million) in January, nearly equal to the figure for the entire third quarter of 2012.

As expected, the bullish outlook has prompted many brokerages to begin recruiting professionals to prepare for growth after the lean times of the past year.