Freedom Holding Corp. (FRHC), parent of CySEC-licensed Freedom Finance Europe, saw its revenues soar to $418.6 mln in the third quarter of its 2023-2024 fiscal year, nearly double the $214 mln earned in the same quarter of the previous year.
The revenue growth was mainly due to higher commission and interest incomes, as well as increased revenue from the group’s insurance business.
The Nasdaq-listed company’s net income rose 53% to $96.4 mln as at 31 December 2023, from $62.9 mln a year earlier. FRHC’s earnings per share (EPS) rose to $1.65 from $1.06 at the end of 2022.
Commission income grew by 49% to $120.2 mln on the back of a general expansion of the company’s operating activities, as well as due to increased revenue from brokerage services.
Interest income grew 2.8-fold to $226.4 mln due to an increase in the company’s own stock portfolio, as well as the volume of bank loans issued. Income from the holding company’s insurance services increased by 177% to $79 mln due to the expansion of its insurance business.
Freedom Holding Corp.’s expenses rose 89% to $307 mln in Q3 FY 2024, primarily due to an increase in short-term repurchase financing.
FRHC’s assets grew to $7.45 bln as of 31 December 2023 from $5.09 bln as of 31 March 2023. The total number of brokerage client accounts increased to 458,000 from 370,000 on 31 March 2023 and 250,000 on 31 March 2022, fuelled by the geographical expansion of its Limassol-based European division, Freedom Finance Europe, which opened offices in six new countries in 2023.
Today, Freedom Finance Europe family has offices in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Greece, Poland, Bulgaria and Cyprus.
Last year, the company’s clients also got the opportunity to trade directly on the Athens Stock Exchange (ATHEX), with Freedom Finance Europe becoming the first international retail broker to become a member of ATHEX, which is experiencing a surge in investment activity after a multi-year lull.
Subsidiaries in 16 countries
In a recent interview with the U.S. magazine Leaders, Timur Turlov, CEO of Freedom Holding Corp. and the founder of Freedom Finance Europe, spoke about the rapid development of the holding company, its breakthrough technologies and ambitious plans of its subsidiaries in 16 countries.
Today, FRHC’s core business is a unified ecosystem of digital financial services in Kazakhstan, where the holding company is headquartered. The Freedom ecosystem includes a bank (Freedom Bank), two insurance companies (Freedom Life and Freedom Insurance), two brokerages (Freedom Finance Global and Freedom Broker), online ticket services (Ticketon, Aviata and Choco Travel), a payment system (Freedom Pay), a telecom operator (Freedom Telecom) and other services. “Currently, our suite of Freedom fintech ecosystem services are consumed by approximately seven million customers,” the head of the holding company said.
In the U.S., the holding company operates Freedom Capital Markets, a fully licensed investment bank that provides a full array of capital markets advisory and capital formation services. The European division, Freedom Finance Europe, a brokerage company, provides private investors from across the EU with access to global stock markets.
Through its U.S. brokerage subsidiary Prime Executions, the holding company provides its clients with access to the most promising IPOs in the U.S. market.
“All of the above represent our technology-based solutions. We know how to scale them up and expand in new markets,” Turlov said, adding that the company’s future plans include expansion in Europe, as well as entering the Middle East and Central Asian markets.
