On March 16, 2021, $Futu Holdings Limited(FUTU.US)$, a leading tech-driven online brokerage and wealth management platform in China, announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2020.

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2020 Operational Highlights

• Total number of paying clients increased 160.5% year-over-year to 516,721 as of December 31, 2020. 

• Total number of registered clients increased 97.8% year-over-year to 1,419,734 as of December 31, 2020. 

• Total number of users increased 58.6% year-over-year to 11.9 million as of December 31, 2020.

• Total client assets increased 227.3% year-over-year to HK$285.2 billion as of December 31, 2020.

• Daily average client assets were HK$244.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020, an increase of 205.7% from the same period in 2019. 

• Total trading volume in the fourth quarter of 2020 increased 438.1% year-over-year to HK$1,210.0 billion, in which trading volume for US stocks was HK$783.6 billion, trading volume for Hong Kong stocks was HK$414.6 billion, and trading volume for stocks under the Stock Connect was HK$11.7 billion. Total trading volume in 2020 was HK$3,463.6 billion, representing a 296.9% growth year-over-year. 

• Daily average revenue trades (DARTs) in the fourth quarter of 2020 increased 339.9% year-over-year to 462,261. DARTs in 2020 increased 213.8% to 331,105. 

• Margin financing and securities lending balance increased 307.3% year-over-year to HK$19.5 billion as of December 31, 2020.
  

Fourth Quarter 2020 Financial Highlights

• Total revenues increased 281.6% year-over-year to HK$1,186.4 million (US$153.0 million). 

• Total gross profit increased 321.4% year-over-year to HK$944.3 million (US$121.8 million). 

• Net income was up 11.1 times year-over-year to HK$532.5 million (US$68.7 million). 

• Non-GAAP adjusted net income was up 10.2 times year-over-year to HK$552.9 million (US$71.3 million).
  

Full year 2020 Financial Highlights

• Total revenues increased 211.9% year-over-year to HK$3,310.8 million (US$427.0 million). 

• Total gross profit increased 235.3% year-over-year to HK$2,614.9 million (US$337.3 million).

• Net income increased 699.9% year-over-year to HK$1,325.5 million (US$171.0 million). 

• Non-GAAP adjusted net income increased 651.1% year-over-year to HK$1,364.0 million (US$175.9 million).

Mr. Leaf Hua Li, Futu's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are excited to announce that the robust growth momentum of our operating and financial metrics continued into the fourth quarter of 2020."

"We added 98,632 paying clients on a net basis, more than half of whom were from Hong Kong and overseas. Organic growth continued to contribute over 50% of our new paying clients in the quarter. As of year-end, paying clients reached 516,721, representing 160.5% year-over-year growth. We exceeded our full-year paying client guidance by adding approximately 320,000 paying clients in 2020."

"Total client assets reached HK$285.2 billion as of December 31, 2020, representing 227.3% growth on a year-over-year basis and 41.9% growth on a quarter-over-quarter basis. In the fourth quarter, we continued to deliver a high paying client quarterly retention rate of 97.9%."

"Total trading volume was HK$1,210.0 billion in the fourth quarter, up 438.1% year-over-year and 19.2% quarter-over-quarter. 65% of our total trading volume in this quarter was contributed by US stock trading, which ballooned to HK$783.6 billion, underpinned by the robust US equities market performance. We also further expanded our trading product offerings by launching CME futures and A50 futures."

"Total client assets in Money Plus were HK$10.2 billion, up 68.5% year-over-year. We have established partnerships with 39 asset managers around the world which altogether hosted 39 live-streaming sessions on our Futubull platform in 2020 to conduct fund publicity and investor education. Over 42,000 clients, or 8.1% of our total paying client base, held wealth management positions as of year-end, offering significant room for further penetration."

"Futu I&E continues to be the go-to enterprise service partner. We had 105 IPO and IR clients as of year-end. In the fourth quarter, 10 IPOs recorded over HK$10 billion in subscription, respectively, on our Futubull platform, including the US IPOs of Miniso and Lufax, and the HK IPOs of Pop Mart and JD Health. We also added 33 ESOP clients in the quarter, bringing our total ESOP client number to 159."

Mr. Arthur Yu Chen, Futu's Chief Financial Officer, added, "In the fourth quarter, a leading global investment firm purchased approximately 50,000,000 Class A ordinary shares of the Company in the form of prepaid warrants for an aggregate purchase price of approximately US$260 million. As we further enhanced our capital base, we are able to support a larger margin financing balance, ramp up our marketing efforts in international markets, and further invest into our technology infrastructure."