BRIEF: Futu profit doubles on heavy trading during stock market rally

Online brokerage Futu Holdings Ltd. (FUTU.US) said on Thursday its revenue jumped 86.8% in the fourth quarter to HK$4.43 billion ($570 million), fueled by higher trading volumes as investors rushed to buy into a strong year-end Hong Kong stock market rally. The company’s profit more than doubled during the quarter, up 113% to HK$1.87 billion.

Futu’s overall trading volume during the quarter tripled year-on-year to HK$2.89 trillion, while total client assets in its wealth management business rose 92.6% to HK$110.9 billion. Futu said its number of new paying clients rose 39% quarter-on-quarter to 215,000, with Hong Kong as a major contributor as the city’s stock market rallied strongly.

Futu started out as a China-based online brokerage serving Chinese customers investing in the U.S. and Hong Kong. More recently it has diversified its customer base to include Hong Kong, Singapore, the U.S., Australia, Japan and Malaysia. Its stock fell 3.8% in Thursday trading in New York. But the shares are up 65% over the last year.

By Doug Young

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