Research on Kazakh companies and trade with China https://www.steppesilk.com/ 2026-11-01T00:00:00Z Chingiz Bakytzhanov https://www.steppesilk.com/research/kazmunaygas-2026.html2026-11-01T00:00:00Z2026-11-01T00:00:00Z

KazMunayGas (KMG), Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company, produced 26.2 million tonnes of oil and condensate in 2025, 10% more than in 2024. Revenue rose 12.5%, to ₸9.37 trillion, mostly because the tenge weakened, while net profit slipped 2%, to ₸1.07 trillion, as the oil price fell 14%. In the first half of 2026 Brent averaged $92 a barrel and net profit rose 69%, even though output fell 4.6% when the Caspian Pipeline Consortium limited how much oil it accepted. On the stock exchange KMG costs about 20 times its 2025 profit, more than Kazatomprom, Kaspi or Halyk, but very few of its shares trade.

https://www.steppesilk.com/research/air-astana-2026.html2026-11-01T00:00:00Z2026-11-01T00:00:00Z

Air Astana Group, which flies as Air Astana and the low-cost FlyArystan, earned $1.45 billion of revenue in 2025, 11% more than in 2024, but its profit fell from $52.8 million to $13.6 million. Faulty Pratt & Whitney engines grounded up to 13 aircraft in the peak season. China has become its fastest-growing market: weekly flights rose from 16 in 2024 to as many as 51 in summer 2026, and on 30 October 2026 it signed a joint venture with China Southern Airlines. In the first half of 2026 revenue grew 16%, but cost per seat-kilometre grew 22% and the group made a loss of $21.2 million.

https://www.steppesilk.com/research/china-southern-2026.html2026-11-01T00:00:00Z2026-11-01T00:00:00Z

China Southern Airlines, China's largest airline by fleet with 973 aircraft, returned to profit in 2025: RMB855 million for shareholders, after losses in 2023 and 2024. Most of the growth came from international routes, whose revenue rose from RMB35 billion in 2023 to RMB58 billion in 2025. In the first half of 2026 fuel cost 38% more and the airline lost RMB3.7 billion. It flies up to 29 times a week to Almaty and Astana and on 30 October 2026 signed a joint venture with Air Astana.

https://www.steppesilk.com/research/geely-2026.html2026-10-23T00:00:00Z2026-10-23T00:00:00Z

Geely Automobile, the Hong Kong-listed carmaker that owns the Geely, Lynk & Co and Zeekr brands, sold 3.02 million cars in 2025, 39% more than in 2024, and its revenue rose 25% to RMB345 billion. In December 2025 it bought out the minority shareholders of Zeekr, its luxury electric brand, and took it off the New York Stock Exchange. In the first half of 2026, when car sales inside China fell 24%, Geely kept its total sales flat by selling abroad: exports grew 158% and Zeekr's sales 97%. Revenue rose 15% and core profit 46%, although reported profit fell 2%.

https://www.steppesilk.com/research/china-russia-trade-2025.html2026-10-23T00:00:00Z2026-10-23T00:00:00Z

According to the General Administration of Customs of China, trade between China and Russia fell 6.9% in 2025, to $228.1 billion. It was the first fall since 2020. China's exports to Russia fell 10.4%, to $103.3 billion, and its imports from Russia fell 3.9%, to $124.8 billion. Vehicles explain almost all of the fall in exports: they dropped from $25.5 billion to $13.1 billion. On the import side, oil, gas and coal fell by $16.3 billion, while metals and ores rose. Russia has not published its own trade by country since 2022.

https://www.steppesilk.com/research/kazatomprom-2025.html2026-10-23T00:00:00Z2026-10-23T00:00:00Z

Kazatomprom, the world's largest uranium producer, mined 25,839 tonnes of uranium in 2025, 11% more than in 2024. Revenue still slipped 1%, to ₸1.80 trillion, because the average selling price fell 6% and a one-off sale of enriched uranium in 2024 did not repeat. In the first half of 2026 the price rose 16%, but a higher extraction tax, dearer sulphuric acid and a stronger tenge raised cash cost per pound by 37%, and profit attributable to shareholders fell 23%.

https://www.steppesilk.com/research/china-central-asia-2025.html2026-10-17T00:00:00Z2026-10-17T00:00:00Z

China's trade with the five Central Asian states reached $106.3 billion in 2025, up 12%, according to Chinese customs. China sold the region twice as much as it bought, and only Turkmenistan, with its gas, sold China more than it bought. The countries' own statistics often show much less trade: Kyrgyzstan records less than a fifth of the figure China reports.

https://www.steppesilk.com/research/halyk-bank-2026.html2026-10-17T00:00:00Z2026-10-17T00:00:00Z

Halyk Bank, Kazakhstan's largest bank by assets, earned ₸1,058 billion in 2025, 15% more than in 2024, with a return on equity of 32.6%. In the first half of 2026 net income fell 15.3%. Stricter reserve requirements from the National Bank, tighter rules on consumer loans and dearer deposits cut the net interest margin from 7.3% to 6.8%.

https://www.steppesilk.com/research/kazakhstan-china-trade.html2026-10-08T00:00:00Z2026-10-08T00:00:00Z

Trade between Kazakhstan and China more than doubled, from $15.4 billion to $34.1 billion. Kazakhstan still sells mostly raw materials and buys machinery, electronics and vehicles. Since 2023 it has run a trade deficit with China, which reached $3.7 billion in 2025.

https://www.steppesilk.com/research/kaspi-hepsiburada.html2026-10-08T00:00:00Z2026-10-08T00:00:00Z

In January 2025 Kaspi.kz bought a controlling stake in Hepsiburada, a leading Turkish online marketplace. The deal lifted revenue by 60% in 2025 but left net income almost flat, cutting the net margin from 41.7% to 26.4%. The Kazakh business stayed highly profitable; the fall comes from Turkey.