HONG KONG, Aug. 30, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Futu Holdings Limited (“Futu” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: FUTU), a leading tech-driven online brokerage and wealth management platform, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022.
Second Quarter 2022 Operational Highlights
Total number of paying clients1 increased 38.6% year-over-year to 1,387,146 as of June 30, 2022.
Total number of registered clients2 increased 30.5% year-over-year to 3,021,790 as of June 30, 2022.
Total number of users3 increased 20.0% year-over-year to 18.6 million as of June 30, 2022.
Total client assets declined 13.8% year-over-year to HK$433.6 billion as of June 30, 2022.
Daily average client assets were HK$380.6 billion in the second quarter of 2022, a decrease of 19.1% from the same period in 2021.
Total trading volume in the second quarter of 2022 increased 2.4% year-over-year to HK$1.3 trillion, in which trading volume for U.S. stocks was HK$897.1 billion, trading volume for Hong Kong stocks was HK$423.6 billion, and trading volume for stocks under the Stock Connect was HK$23.3 billion.
Daily average revenue trades (DARTs)4 in the second quarter of 2022 increased 6.1% year-over-year to 574,186.
Margin financing and securities lending balance declined 12.4% year-over-year to
HK$28.9 billion as of June 30, 2022.
Second Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights
Total revenues increased 10.8% year-over-year to HK$1,746.7 million (US$222.6 million).
Total gross profit increased 18.6% year-over-year to HK$1,538.8 million (US$196.1 million).
Net income increased 20.2% year-over-year to HK$641.7 million (US$81.8 million).
Non-GAAP adjusted net income5 increased 25.1% year-over-year to HK$688.5 million (US$87.7 million).
Mr. Leaf Hua Li, Futu’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “In the second quarter, we added over 60 thousand paying clients, bringing our first half paying clients' growth to 143 thousand. Organic growth again contributed over 50% of new paying clients. Weak equities market performance dragged client growth across all markets except for Hong Kong, where we launched targeted marketing campaigns around the green bond issuance in May and attracted a meaningful number of allocation-driven clients. Our quarterly client retention rate remained above 98% despite sharp market correction.”
“Total client assets increased by 12.3% quarter-over-quarter to HK$433.6 billion, mostly attributable to the rebound of China technology names in June and robust net asset inflow across regions. The average asset balance of our newly acquired paying clients in
Singapore exceeded SG$10 thousand within three months as we continued to prioritize client quality. Margin financing and securities lending balance increased 13.4% sequentially, as sentiments improved around technology stocks.”
“Total trading volume was HK$1.3 trillion, up 1.5% sequentially. U.S. and Hong Kong stock trading volumes were HK$897.1 billion and HK$423.6 billion, respectively, up 5.8% and down 5.4% quarter-over-quarter. The sequential uptick of U.S stock trading was mostly driven by higher turnover of leveraged and inverse ETFs amid heightened market volatility.”
“In the first half of this year, we continued to focus relentlessly on user experience by releasing 99 versions of our mobile app and desktop clients and adding 3,989 new features. In the second quarter, we launched multi-leg options for Hong Kong stocks, enabling our users to formulate advanced options trading strategies to better manage risk and achieve investment targets. We believe this function will attract more sophisticated options traders to our platform. We also rolled out regular savings plan for Hong Kong
stocks, which helps our users make disciplined investments amid market fluctuation.”
“Total client assets in wealth management were HK$21.9 billion, up 58.8% year-over-year and 4.8% quarter-over-quarter. As of quarter end, over 200 thousand clients, 14.6% of our total paying clients, held wealth management products. In Singapore, wealth management asset balance increased 377.4% quarter-over-quarter as we further expanded mutual fund offerings.”
“We had 276 IPO and IR clients as well as 519 ESOP clients as of quarter end, up 48.4% and 97.3% year-over-year.”
Mr. Arthur Yu Chen, Futu’s Chief Financial Officer, added, “As of June 30th, we repurchased an aggregate of 6.5 million ADSs with approximately US$200 million total repurchased amount in open market transactions. This constituted about 40% of the maximum purchase amount of US$500 million approved under our share repurchase program previously announced on March 11th, 2022.”
Second Quarter 2022 Financial Results
Revenues
Total revenues were HK$1,746.7 million (US$222.6 million), an increase of 10.8% from HK$1,576.9 million in the second quarter of 2021.
Brokerage commission and handling charge income was HK$1,033.8 million (US$131.7 million), an increase of 29.6% from the second quarter of 2021. This was mainly driven by the increase in blended commission rate from 6.1bps to 7.7bps.
Interest income was HK$620.4 million (US$79.1 million), an increase of 1.7% from the second quarter of 2021. Higher interest income from bank deposits and securities lending was largely offset by lower margin financing income and IPO financing interest income.
Other income was HK$92.5 million (US$11.8 million), a decrease of 45.2% from the second quarter of 2021. The decrease was primarily attributable to lower IPO financing service charge income and underwriting fee income.
Costs
Total costs were HK$207.9 million (US$26.5 million), a decrease of 25.4% from HK$278.8 million in the second quarter of 2021.
Brokerage commission and handling charge expenses were HK$87.2 million (US$11.1 million), a decrease of 39.9% from the second quarter of 2021. Despite a year-over-year increase in brokerage commission income, brokerage commission expenses declined due to cost savings from our U.S. self-clearing business and an upgraded service package with our U.S. clearing house.
I
nterest expenses were HK$26.6 million (US$3.4 million), a decrease of 66.5% from the second quarter of 2021. This was due to lower margin financing and IPO financing interest expenses, as well as lower interest expenses associated with our securities borrowing and lending business.
Processing and servicing costs were HK$94.1 million (US$12.0 million), an increase of 73.6% from the second quarter of 2021. The increase was primarily due to higher cloud service fees to support overseas market expansion and process a higher number of concurrent trades.
Gross Profit
Total gross profit was HK$1,538.8 million (US$196.1 million), an increase of 18.6% from HK$1,298.0 million in the second quarter of 2021. Gross margin was 88.1%, as compared to 82.3% in the second quarter of 2021.
Operating Expenses
Total operating expenses were HK$721.6 million (US$92.0 million), an increase of 11.5% from HK$647.4 million in the second quarter of 2021.
Research and development expenses were HK$291.7 million (US$37.2 million), an increase of 68.2% from the second quarter of 2021. This was primarily due to the increase in research and development headcount to build U.S. clearing capabilities and support new product offerings.
Selling and marketing expenses were HK$219.1 million (US$27.9 million), a decrease of 41.9% from HK$377.4 million in the second quarter of 2021. The decrease was mainly due to lower overall marketing spending amid weak market sentiments.
General and administrative expenses were HK$210.8 million (US$26.9 million), an increase of 118.4% from the second quarter of 2021. The increase was primarily due to an increase in general and administrative personnel.
Net Income
Net income increased by 20.2% to HK$641.7 million (US$81.8 million) from HK$533.9 million in the second quarter of 2021. Net income margin for the second quarter of 2022 expanded to 36.7% from 33.9% in the year-ago quarter.
Non-GAAP adjusted net income increased by 25.1% to HK$688.5 million (US$87.7 million) from the second quarter of 2021. 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 ADS
Basic net income per American Depositary Share (“ADS”) was HK$4.50 (US$0.57), compared with HK$3.54 in the second quarter of 2021. Diluted net income per ADS was HK$4.46 (US$0.57), compared with HK$3.47 in the second quarter of 2021. Each ADS represents eight Class A ordinary shares.