- The company turns a profit in non-GAAP terms for the third
consecutive year
- Annual target of new funded accounts is overachieved amid
scaled-up global expansion
SINGAPORE and NEW
YORK, March 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UP
Fintech Holding Limited ("UP Fintech" or the "Company",
Nasdaq: TIGR, and all its subsidiaries and consolidated entities),
an online brokerage with a focus on redefining global investing
with technologies for the next generation, announced its unaudited
financial results for the quarter and the year ended December 31, 2022.
Amid the macroeconomic headwinds and market volatilities
worldwide in 2022, the company showcased its strong strategic
execution capabilities and improved operational efficiency, posting
annual revenue of US$225.4 million
and non-GAAP net income attributable to UP Fintech of US$12.68 million — registering a profit for the
third consecutive year.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, UP Fintech's total revenue
amounted to US$63.85 million, up
15.2% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ), and the non-GAAP net income was
numbered at US$4.52 million.
During Q4, the number of new customer accounts globally
increased by 37,600, bringing the total account holders to over 2
million. The number of new funded accounts (new customers with
deposits) rose by 27,300 to a total of 781,500 worldwide in Q4,
bolstering the company's annual acquisition of 108,100 new
customers with deposits — a number overachieving the target of
100,000 new funded accounts in 2022.
In Q4 2022, the total trading volume from customers stood at
US$68.5 billion, of which
US$20.5 billion was on share trading.
On a different note, 7.4 million options and futures contracts were
made on the platform during the period. The customers' total
account balance (assets) amounted to US$14.0
billion by the end of the period, up 8.1% QoQ. The net asset
inflow from customers went above US$1.4
billion, with 98% of customers with assets retained during
the period.
"In the fourth quarter, our interest-related incomes expanded on
both year-over-year (YoY) and quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) basis,
boosted by the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes. Our revenue
continued to grow QoQ, and the net income was up YoY," said Wu
Tianhua, CEO and founder of UP Fintech.
"Looking back over the past year, in spite of the
macroeconomic headwinds, the company presented its resilience with
solid results. We were committed to investing in R&D and
increasing operational efficiency, actions that halved the
company's clearing-related costs on a YoY basis and made non-GAAP
income profitable for the third consecutive year. On the business
operations front, we are pleased to see that our annual target of
new funded accounts was overachieved. Our global expansion thrust
us into Hong Kong, where we are
bringing the most price-to-performance global investing services.
Product-wise, we introduced fractional shares trading and
auto-invest plan (AIP) for US stocks — features we believe will
drive long-term customer growth and promote user stickiness.
Looking forward, we are optimistic about the market, and
will remain zeroed in on R&D and efficiency, while staying
compliant in all the markets where we operate, in a relentless
effort to let everyone enjoy innovative and high-quality fintech
products," Wu added.
In Singapore, average net
deposit of new customers rises for 3rd consecutive quarter, trading
volume up 56% YoY
Tiger Trade extensively favored for global investing across
Singapore
In 2022, the company's global expansion tread steadily with
positive outcomes and increasingly wide public recognition.
By the end of 2022, in Singapore about a third of local adult
residents aged above 20 had used Tiger Trade, making the platform
extensively favored in one of the global financial centers — thanks
to the wide trust the company has continuously gained from local
clients and its stepped-up localized business strategy.
In Q4, the average net deposit of newly acquired clients grew
for the third consecutive quarter to almost reach the US$12,000 threshold, indicating the company's
rising attraction to high-net-worth customers.
Thanks to the unparalleled user experience offered by the
company's innovative products, the flagship platform Tiger Trade
has become one of the top choices for trading Singapore Exchange
(SGX) listed stocks, where in Q4, 1.02 billion SGX shares were
traded with a total volume of US$543
million (SG$727 million), up 56% YoY.
The company continuously deepened its link with prestigious
financial institutions in the market. In collaboration with UOBAM,
the United Fixed Maturity Bond Fund 1, a fixed-term product
offering an annualized yield of up to 4.95% over the next three
years, was launched. The product, managed by UOBAM, aims to take
advantage of rising interest rates to lock in higher returns.
Official arrival in Hong
Kong with bang for the buck offers
The company officially expanded its business into Hong Kong in Q4, and has been widely lauded
for its best price-to-performance products and services offered in
this financial center of the world.
Hong Kong residents are able to
enjoy one-stop global investing services including Hong Kong stocks, warrants, callable bull/bear
contracts (CBBCs), US stocks, US stock fractional shares, and ETFs
— all in one account on Tiger Trade.
In Hong Kong, investors can
also opt for a maximum 20x leverage financing for Hong Kong IPO
shares in public and global offerings, an alternative that largely
helps them seize investing opportunities.
In Australia, the recognition
of the company kept rising among the general public. In November,
Tiger Trade was awarded a 5-star rating in "International Share
Trading" category by the trusted financial comparison site Canstar.
The rating was based on the outstanding value offered to all-level
investors, including features such as live market data, dynamic
trading, market insights, and education tools, as well as
competitive trade costs.
US stock AIP and fractional share features introduced
In a bid to help investors weather market
volatilities
In 2022, the company registered US$93.1
million for interest-related income, up 16.9% YoY. In the
fourth quarter alone, the gross commission income was US$24.93 million, along with a US$33.13 million interest-related income, up
46.9% YoY. The self-clearing system greatly improved operational
efficiency by slashing relevant costs by 49.9%.
In Q4, the Automatic Investment Plan (AIP) feature officially
supported S&P 500 stocks for users worldwide and lowered the
investment threshold to US$1, the
latest addition to US stock fractional sharing trading and a shift
to the self-clearing system from the previous quarter.
AIP offers investors a strategy to break even their buy-in
costs, helping them tackle market movements in a rational manner
and bringing long-term added value to their assets.
Both features — US stock fractional share trading and AIP —
represent the company's latest fruits cultivated by continuous
trading technology and customer service innovations in 2022, which
largely benefit the company in achieving user growth, improving
user stickiness, and consolidating user retention.
In Q4, Tiger Trade users also started exclusively enjoying the
individual stock financial results forecast feature till as far as
three years ahead — a new extension only made possible by AI and
big data technologies.
Tiger Vault grows further and stronger
Annualized yield reaches 4.7%*
The company's wealth management arm saw progress in Q4 with
optimizations applied to Tiger Vault. Customers' assets in cash
holding accounts are linked to trading financial products including
stocks, funds, and options. Automatic subscriptions and redemptions
are also available.
Until now, Tiger Vault's seven-day annualized rate of return has
reached 4.7% at its peak, outshining all the other products in the
same category.
In Q4, Tiger Vault saw the assets under management (AUM) up by
132.7% QoQ, and the number of account holders increased by 104.6%
QoQ. This helped boost the AUM of the whole wealth management
business by 103.1% QoQ, with the number of account holders up by
62.0% QoQ during the same period.
The company's investor education initiative further dived in to
understand the investors' demand by going live with a series of
courses catered to both fresh and seasoned investors, covering
topics from Hong Kong stock
trading, US stock trading, financial derivatives trading,
exchange-traded funds, company valuation analysis, earnings results
breakdown, etc.
A long-term collaboration was also forged with SGX, in which
financial institutions, including Standard Chartered, offered
investors deep analysis on popular investment topics and
sought-after industry analysis.
Ranked third globally by US IPO underwriting deal
count
'Consulting + SaaS' ESOP closed-loop system structured to
transform equity management
During Q4, other revenues from to-business corporate services,
including investment banking and employee stock ownership plan
(ESOP), reached US$5.8 million, up
46.4% QoQ. The total of other services reached US$24.19 million in 2022.
The company underwrote 14 Hong Kong IPOs, a number that overtook
the total deal count from the previous three quarters, amid the
market's warm-up. In 2022, the company participated in 53 US and
Hong Kong IPO projects.
In 2022, the company got third rank among all global investment
banks in terms of deal count of US IPOs underwritten, according to
third-party statistics, which also reveal that the company ranked
second in the year in IPOs in various underwriting types, including
for special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), thanks to its
years of accumulation of expertise in underwriting.
Starting from Q4, the company's ESOP business spun off to
operate under the new brand "UponeShare". In Q4, 26 ESOP clients
were signed, bringing the number of new clients in 2022 to 106 and
the total number of clients to 419, up 34% YoY.
In 2022, UponeShare launched consulting services for incentive
stock options, part of the "consulting + SaaS" closed-loop system
shaped to speed up the sector's equity management digital
transformation. Non-stop innovations were also seen in its products
with the amount/value adjustment feature introduced for mainland
China's A-share system, while
services including foreign currency registration and taxation
recordation started to win the clients' hearts.
In 2022, 71 corporate clients opened their Tiger Enterprise
Accounts, bringing the total clientele to 366. With its strategy of
weaving online communications into offline experience sessions, the
service is one of the go-to channels for companies seeking a
Hong Kong or US IPO.
*4.7% was the seven-day annualized yield rate marked on
March 24, 2023 for Tiger Vault's fund
SGXZ99103178. Please note that this historical rate does not
guarantee the fund's future yields.
About UP Fintech
UP Fintech Holding Limited (Nasdaq: TIGR), also known as Tiger
Brokers, is a leading online brokerage with a focus on redefining
global investing with technology for the next generation.
Founded in 2014, we relentlessly offer a superior user
experience in pursuit of becoming a world-leading online brokerage,
to let everyone enjoy efficient and smart investing. Currently, we
offer a multitude of quality financial products and services across
brokerage, employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) management,
investment banking, wealth management, investor community, and
investor education.
We strive to elevate financial technology R&D to a new
level. While we inherit the best traditions from the financial
sector and blend them with the best minds of tech experts, we
develop our own technology infrastructure—an aggregation that
enables multi-currency trading of various products across markets,
guaranteeing our reliable, secure, and scalable services are
accessible to all with low latency.
In March 2019, UP Fintech was
listed on Nasdaq under the ticker TIGR. As of now, we serve over 9
million users and more than 2 million account holders worldwide on
our flagship platform "Tiger Trade", own 69 licenses and
qualifications in different markets, and have over 1,000 employees
on the team in Singapore,
New Zealand, the US, Hong Kong, Australia, and mainland China.
For more information about UP Fintech as a company, please visit
itigerup.com
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward−looking statements. These
statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward−looking statements can be identified by terminology such as
"may," "might," "aim," "likely to," "will," "expects,"
"anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes,"
"estimates" and similar statements or expressions. Among other
statements, the business outlook and quotations from management in
this announcement, as well as the Company's strategic and
operational plans, contain forward−looking statements. The Company
may also make written or oral forward−looking statements in its
periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
("SEC") on Forms 20−F and 6−K, 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, including the earnings conference call. Statements
that are not historical facts, including statements about the
Company'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: the
cooperation with Interactive Brokers LLC and Xiaomi Corporation and
its affiliates; the Company's ability to effectively implement its
growth strategies; trends and competition in global financial
markets; changes in the Company's revenues and certain cost or
expense accounting policies; the effects of the global COVID-19
pandemic; and governmental policies and regulations affecting the
Company's industry and general economic conditions in China, Singapore and other countries. Further
information regarding these and other risks is included in the
Company's filings with the SEC, including the Company's annual
report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on April 28, 2022. All information provided in this
press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this
press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update
any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable
law. Further information regarding these and other risks is
included in the Company's filings with the SEC.
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SOURCE UP Fintech Holding Limited