HONG KONG, March 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Futu Holdings Limited (“Futu” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: FUTU), a leading tech-driven online brokerage and wealth management platform in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2019.
Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Operational HighlightsTotal number of registered clients1 increased 42.9% year-over-year to 717,842 as of December 31, 2019.Total number of paying clients2 increased 49.4% year-over-year to 198,382 as of December 31, 2019.Total number of users3 increased 34.7% year-over-year to 7.5 million as of December 31, 2019.Total client assets increased 71.1% year-over-year to HK$87.1 billion as of December 31, 2019.Daily average client assets were HK$80.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019, an increase of 57.6% from the same period in 2018.Total trading volume in the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased 1.8% year-over-year to HK$224.8 billion. Total trading volume in 2019 decreased 3.8% year-over-year to HK$872.7 billion.Daily average revenue trades (DARTs)4in the fourth quarter of 2019 increased 4.5% year-over-year to 105,093. DARTs in 2019 increased 8.7% year-over-year to 105,511.Margin financing and securities lending balance increased 52.2% year-over-year to HK$4.8 billion as of December 31, 2019.Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial HighlightsTotal revenues increased 36.8% year-over-year to HK$310.9 million (US$39.9 million).Total gross profit increased 37.6% year-over-year to HK$224.1 million (US$28.8 million).Net income increased 14.9% year-over-year to HK$43.9 million (US$5.6 million).Non-GAAP adjusted net income5 increased 19.1% year-over-year to HK$49.3 million (US$6.3 million).Full year 2019 Financial HighlightsTotal revenues increased 30.9% year-over-year to HK$1,061.6 million (US$136.3 million).Total gross profit increased 38.8% year-over-year to HK$779.9 million (US$100.1 million).Net income increased 19.6% year-over-year to HK$165.7 million (US$21.3 million).Non-GAAP adjusted net income5 increased 21.9% year-over-year to HK$181.6 million (US$23.3 million)._____________________1 The number of registered clients refers to the number of users who open one or more trading accounts on Futu’s platform.
2 The number of paying clients refers to the number of the clients with assets in their trading accounts on Futu’s platform.
3 The number of users refers to the number of user accounts registered with our Futu NiuNiu applications or websites.
4 The number of Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) refers to the number of average trades per day that generate commissions or fees.
5 Non-GAAP adjusted net income is defined as net income excluding share-based compensation expenses.“We are pleased to report another strong quarter, driven by robust growth in the number of paying clients and total client assets,” said Mr. Leaf Hua Li, Futu’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We added 21,620 paying clients in the fourth quarter of 2019, the highest quarterly paying client net addition we have witnessed so far. As a result, the total number of paying clients reached over 198 thousand as of year-end, representing a 49% increase year-over-year.”“We attribute the strong paying client growth to a combination of optimized marketing efforts, upbeat market sentiment and high-profile Hong Kong IPOs. In the fourth quarter, we selectively worked with a number of targeted third-party channels whose client profiles are similar to our own. The active IPO market was also in our favor: our clients’ total subscription for the IPOs of Alibaba and Poly Property Development both exceeded HK$5.0 billion. Notably, our clients accounted for 13% of Alibaba’s total number of retail subscribers and 5% of its public tranche allocation. The strong demand from Alibaba’s secondary listing in Hong Kong leads us to believe that our business will be a key beneficiary of the continued dual and secondary listings of high-quality Chinese new economy companies in Hong Kong.”“Our total client assets jumped 71% year-over-year to HK$87.1 billion. We are encouraged to see that clients continue to entrust us with more assets, and we are seeing a growing share of their assets flowing into our mutual fund distribution business. Total client assets in mutual funds surpassed HK$6.0 billion as of year-end, representing over 100% sequential growth. We have established comprehensive fund selection criteria and continue to source and onboard the best-performing fund products across asset classes from top-notch Chinese and global fund houses. We expect to distribute over 50 mutual funds on our platform by mid-2020.” “Given that our business is 100% online, our operating metrics haven’t demonstrated much negative impact from the outbreak of COVID-19 so far. The launch of new products may be delayed in the first quarter, but we do not believe such delay will weigh on the long-term growth prospects of our business.”Mr. Arthur Yu Chen, Futu’s Chief Financial Officer, added, “In the fourth quarter, we recorded total revenue of HK$310.9 million, up 36.8% from the same period in 2018. Total trading volume was HK$224.8 billion, up 7% sequentially, but remained relatively flat on a year-over-year basis. In 2020, we will continue to expand our portfolio of trading products to cater to the needs of various clients. As we continue to prioritize paying client growth, client retention and net asset inflow, we will also focus on cost control and the delivery of greater operating leverage.”Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial ResultsRevenuesTotal revenues were HK$310.9 million (US$39.9 million), an increase of 36.8% from HK$227.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.Brokerage commission and handling charge income was HK$151.6 million (US$19.5 million), an increase of 33.8% from HK$113.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The increase was mainly due to higher brokerage income from IPO subscription service and higher blended commission rates due to the increasing penetration of derivatives trading.Interest income was HK$128.0 million (US$16.4 million), an increase of 24.5% from HK$102.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The increase was mainly due to higher margin interest income driven by higher daily average margin financing and securities lending balance and higher interest income from IPO financing.Other income was HK$31.4 million (US$4.0 million), an increase of 185.5% from HK$11.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The rise was primarily due to the Company’s new mutual fund distribution business and higher IPO financing service charge income.CostsTotal costs were HK$86.8 million (US$11.1 million), an increase of 35.0% from HK$64.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.Brokerage commission and handling charge expenses were HK$30.8 million (US$3.9 million), an increase of 50.2% from HK$20.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The rise was mainly due to higher IPO subscription costs.Interest expenses were HK$31.2 million (US$4.0 million), an increase of 39.3% from HK$22.4 million in the same period of 2018. The increase was primarily due to higher IPO financing interest expense.Processing and servicing costs were HK$24.9 million (US$3.2 million), an increase of 16.9% from HK$21.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The rise was primarily due to the increase in both market information and data fees and cloud service fees, as the Company continued to expand its market data services and enhance infrastructure.Gross ProfitTotal gross profit was HK$224.1 million (US$28.8 million), an increase of 37.6% from HK$162.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.Gross margin was 72.1%, compared with 71.7% in the fourth quarter of 2018.Operating ExpensesTotal operating expenses were HK$181.4 million (US$23.3 million), an increase of 80.7% from HK$100.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.Research and development expenses were HK$74.3 million (US$9.5 million), an increase of 63.7% from HK$45.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The rise was primarily due to the continued increase in research and development headcount as the Company enriched its product offerings.Selling and marketing expenses were HK$51.3 million (US$6.6 million), an increase of 110.2% from HK$24.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The rise was primarily due to higher branding and marketing spending in the fourth quarter of 2019 as the Company further diversified its marketing channels.General and administrative expenses were HK$55.7 million (US$7.2 million), an increase of 82.0% from HK$30.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The rise was primarily due to an increase in headcount for general and administrative personnel and higher professional service fees.Net IncomeNet income increased by 14.9% to HK$43.9 million (US$5.6 million) from HK$38.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. The increase was primarily due to lower taxation as the Company benefited from tax incentives for high-tech enterprises in the fourth quarter of 2019.Non-GAAP adjusted net income increased by 19.1% to HK$49.3 million (US$6.3 million) from HK$41.4 million in the corresponding period of 2018. Non-GAAP adjusted net income is defined as net income excluding share-based compensation expenses. For further information, see “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” at the bottom of this press release.Net Income per ADSBasic net income per American Depositary Share (“ADS”) was HK$0.35 (US$0.05); diluted net income per ADS was HK$0.35 (US$0.05). Each ADS represents eight Class A ordinary shares.Full Year 2019 Financial ResultsRevenuesTotal revenues were HK$1,061.6 million (US$136.3 million), an increase of 30.9% from HK$811.3 million in 2018.Brokerage commission and handling charge income was HK$511.4 million (US$65.6 million), an increase of 25.3% from HK$408.0 million in 2018. The increase was mainly attributable to higher blended commission rates and IPO subscription fees.Interest income was HK$464.9 million (US$59.7 million), an increase of 28.9% from HK$360.6 million in 2018. The increase was mainly attributable to higher margin financing and securities lending balance, and higher bank deposit interest income.Other income was HK$85.3 million (US$10.9 million), an increase of 99.3% from HK$42.8 million in 2018. The rise was primarily due to the Company’s new mutual fund distribution business and higher IPO subscription service charge income.CostsTotal costs were HK$281.7 million (US$36.2 million), an increase of 12.9% from HK$249.6 million in 2018.Brokerage commission and handling charge expenses were HK$100.6 million (US$12.9 million), an increase of 25.6% from HK$80.1 million in 2018. The rise was roughly in line with the Company’s brokerage commission income.Interest expenses were HK$89.2 million (US$11.5 million), a decrease of 6.7% from HK$95.6 million in the same period of 2018. The decrease was primarily because the Company had fully repaid funds borrowed from other parties by the end of the first quarter of 2019.Processing and servicing costs were HK$91.9 million (US$11.8 million), an increase of 24.5% from HK$73.8 million in 2018. The rise was primarily due to the increase in both market information and data fees and data transmission fee, as the Company continued to expand its market data services and enhance infrastructure.Gross ProfitTotal gross profit was HK$779.9 million (US$100.1 million), an increase of 38.8% from HK$561.7 million in 2018.Gross margin was 73.5%, compared with 69.2% in 2018. The rise was primarily due to greater operating leverage as a result of the Company’s larger scale and improved operating efficiency, as well as higher net interest margin in 2019.Operating ExpensesTotal operating expenses were HK$591.9 million (US$76.0 million), an increase of 67.7% from HK$353.0 million in 2018.Research and development expenses were HK$262.3 million (US$33.7 million), an increase of 73.6% from HK$151.1 million in 2018. The rise was primarily due to the continued increase in research and development headcount as the Company enriched its product offerings.Selling and marketing expenses were HK$164.7 million (US$21.1 million), an increase of 67.9% from HK$98.1 million in 2018. The rise was primarily due to higher branding and marketing spending in 2019.General and administrative expenses were HK$164.9 million (US$21.2 million), an increase of 58.9% from HK$103.8 million in 2018. The rise was primarily due to an increase in headcount for general and administrative personnel and higher professional service fees.Net IncomeNet income increased by 19.6% to HK$165.7 million (US$21.3 million) from HK$138.5 million in 2018. The increase was primarily due to lower taxation as the company benefited from tax incentives for high-tech enterprises in 2019.Non-GAAP adjusted net income increased by 21.9% to HK$181.6 million (US$23.3 million) from HK$149.0 million in the same period in 2018. Non-GAAP adjusted net income is defined as net income excluding share-based compensation expenses. For further information, see “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” at the bottom of this press release.Net Income per ADSBasic net income per American Depositary Share (“ADS”) was HK$1.38 (US$0.18); diluted net income per ADS was HK$1.25 (US$0.16). Each ADS represents eight Class A ordinary shares.Conference Call and WebcastFutu’s management will hold an earnings conference call on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time (8:00 PM on the same day, Beijing/Hong Kong Time). Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:A telephone replay will be available after the conclusion of the conference call through 8:59 AM U.S. Eastern Time, March 26, 2020. The dial-in details are:Additionally, a live and archived webcast of this conference call will be available at https://ir.futuholdings.com/.
About Futu Holdings LimitedFutu Holdings Limited (Nasdaq: FUTU) is an advanced technology company transforming the investing experience by offering a fully digitized brokerage and wealth management platform. The Company primarily serves the emerging affluent Chinese population, pursuing a massive opportunity to facilitate a once-in-a-generation shift in the wealth management industry and build a digital gateway into broader financial services. The Company provides investing services through its proprietary digital platform, Futu NiuNiu, a highly integrated application accessible through any mobile device, tablet or desktop. The Company’s primary fee-generating services include trade execution and margin financing which allow its clients to trade securities, such as stocks, warrants, options and exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, across different markets. Futu enhances the user and client experience with market data and news, research, as well as powerful analytical tools, providing them with a data rich foundation to simplify the investing decision-making process. Futu has also embedded social media tools to create a network centered around its users and provide connectivity to users, investors, companies, analysts, media and key opinion leaders.Use of Non-GAAP Financial MeasuresIn evaluating the business, the Company considers and uses non-GAAP adjusted net income, a non-GAAP measure, as a supplemental measure to review and assess its operating performance. The presentation of the non-GAAP financial measure is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The Company defines non-GAAP adjusted net income as net income excluding share-based compensation expenses. The Company presents the non-GAAP financial measure because it is used by the management to evaluate the operating performance and formulate business plans. Non-GAAP adjusted net income enables the management to assess the Company’s operating results without considering the impact of share-based compensation expenses, which are non-cash charges. The Company also believes that the use of the non-GAAP measure facilitates investors’ assessment of its operating performance.Non-GAAP adjusted net income is not defined under U.S. GAAP and is not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. This non-GAAP financial measure has limitations as analytical tools. One of the key limitations of using non-GAAP adjusted net income is that it does not reflect all items of expense that affect the Company’s operations. Share-based compensation expenses have been and may continue to be incurred in the business and is not reflected in the presentation of non-GAAP adjusted net income. Further, the non-GAAP measure may differ from the non-GAAP information used by other companies, including peer companies, and therefore their comparability may be limited.The Company compensates for these limitations by reconciling the non-GAAP financial measure to the nearest U.S. GAAP performance measure, all of which should be considered when evaluating the Company’s performance.For more information on this non-GAAP financial measure, please see the table captioned “Unaudited Reconciliations of Non-GAAP and GAAP Results” set forth at the end of this press release.Exchange Rate InformationThis announcement contains translations of certain HK dollars (“HK$”) amounts into U.S. dollars (“US$”) at specified rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise stated, all translations from HK$ to US$ were made at the rate of HK$7.7894 to US$1.00, the noon buying rate in effect on December 31, 2019 in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. The Company makes no representation that the HK$ or US$ amounts referred could be converted into US$ or HK$, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all.Safe Harbor StatementThis announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates” and similar statements. Among other things, the expectation of its collection efficiency and delinquency, contain forward-looking statements. Futu may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the SEC, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Futu’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: Futu’s goal and strategies; Futu’s expansion plans; Futu’s future business development, financial condition and results of operations; Futu’s expectations regarding demand for, and market acceptance of, its credit products; Futu’s expectations regarding keeping and strengthening its relationships with borrowers, institutional funding partners, merchandise suppliers and other parties it collaborate with; general economic and business conditions; and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Futu’s filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and Futu does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.For investor and media inquiries, please contact:Futu Holdings LimitedIR inquiries:
Daniel Yuan
Tel: +86 (755) 8663-6688 ext. 8925
E-mail: ir@futuholdings.comMedia inquiries:
Amanda Mu
Tel: +86 (755) 8663-6688 ext. 8147
E-mail: futupr@futunn.com
Bay Street News