Futu Holdings Ltd. Q3 FY2024 earnings call

• Net new paying clients: 154,000 net new paying clients in the quarter, up 138% year-over-year and flattish quarter-over-quarter; total paying clients reached ~2.2 million, up 33% year-over-year. • Client acquisition: Acquired 487,000 paying clients in three quarters of 2024, expecting full-year growth to exceed 550,000 guidance; client acquisition accelerated in Hong Kong and Singapore, with Malaysia as top contributor in southern markets. • New product offerings: Rolled out U.S. stock Dividend Reinvestment Plan in Hong Kong, NISA savings account and mutual funds in Japan, supported U.S. margin trading and Japan options trading, and in Malaysia rolled out ringgit and USD denominated money market funds and became first to offer U.S. options trading. • Client assets: Total client assets grew due to strong net asset inflow across markets and market appreciation, especially China equities at quarter-end; Singapore client assets grew driven by net asset inflow and favorable market movements; U.S., Canada and Australia had double-digit sequential growth in average client assets for three consecutive quarters. • Trading volume: Total trading volume grew 17% quarter-over-quarter, with U.S. stock trading volume up 23% sequentially; Hong Kong stock trading volume slipped 3% quarter-over-quarter but surged 267% week-over-week in late September. • Wealth management: Recorded strong growth with total client assets up 87% year-over-year and 22% quarter-over-quarter, and around 27% of paying clients held wealth management products.

Net new paying clients were 154,000, up 138% year-over-year and flattish quarter-over-quarter, with total paying clients reaching approximately 2.2 million, up 33% year-over-year. Three quarters into 2024, 487,000 paying clients were acquired. Total client assets grew 48% year-over-year and 20% quarter-over-quarter to HK$693 billion. Total trading volume grew by 17% quarter-over-quarter to HK$1.9 trillion. Wealth management total client assets grew 87% year-over-year and 22% quarter-over-quarter to HK$97 billion.

• Expect full-year paying client growth to comfortably exceed the guidance of 550,000. • Board of Directors approved a special cash dividend of US$0.25 per ordinary shares or US$2 per ADS to holders of record as of December 6, 2024.

• Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties as actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements; for more risks, refer to company's SEC filings.

Q: Cindy Wang asked about Hong Kong stock trading volume and ADR trading volume percentage impact on blended commission rate and new customer acquisition in Hong Kong, and crypto development, VATP license.

A: Arthur Chen answered on crypto development and VATP license status, Daniel Yuan answered on Hong Kong stock and ADR trading volume related questions.

Q: Chiyao Huang asked about special dividend rationale and sales and marketing expense breakdown.

A: Arthur Chen answered on special dividend rationale, Daniel Yuan answered on sales and marketing expense breakdown.

Q: You Fan asked about AUM breakdown (net asset inflow vs market-to-market appreciation) and regional breakdown of client assets, and interest income breakdown and impact of interest rate cut.

A: Daniel Yuan answered on AUM breakdown and regional client assets, Arthur Chen answered on interest income breakdown.

Q: Charles Zhou asked about special dividend rationale preference and other costs item.

A: Arthur Chen answered on special dividend rationale and other costs item.

Q: Emma Xu asked about market strategies in major markets and investors' trading behavior and asset allocation changes.

A: Daniel Yuan answered on market strategies and trading behavior related questions