Freedom Holding Corp. ends Nasdaq trading day, reports record high revenue and earnings for 2024

Ringing the bell at the legendary Nasdaq MarketSite is a milestone and a celebration for any fast-growing company. Freedom Holding Corp., the Nasdaq-listed diversified financial services company from Kazakhstan, celebrated its record-breaking revenues and earnings for fiscal year 2024 by closing trading for some 4,000 companies.

"The closing bell ceremony itself is a more than 50-year-old tradition at the exchange. To be a part of it is to be an important player on this exchange, where some of the coolest companies in the world trade - Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft and others. The total market capitalisation of the Nasdaq stock market is $25.43 trillion. Not everyone is given such an honour," says Timur Turlov, founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp.

While the year was challenging at times for the Freedom Holding Corp., no one could undermine its reputation - it reported record revenues, growth in assets and client base.

Revenues for the year were up 105% on the previous year to around $1.6 billion. Net income was $375 million, up 82% from $206 million in 2023. Assets grew 63% to $8.301 billion and brokerage client accounts surpassed half a million for the first time, up 58% year-on-year. Basic and diluted earnings per share nearly doubled to $6.37 and $6.33, respectively, from $3.50 and $3.45 in 2023.

"Behind these figures lies a tremendous amount of work by a team of professionals. This is the result of our strategy to develop both traditional financial services and the lifestyle segment. Last year, 13 companies joined the Freedom Holding Corp.: Aviata, Chocotravel and Arbuz services, Freedom Telecom operator, Freedom Media platform and others. We are rapidly moving towards building a full-fledged fintech ecosystem," says Timur Turlov.

Freedom Holding Corp. may continue to expand its global presence through opportunistic M&A deals and may consider acquisitions of financial services-related businesses, complementary businesses and complementary technologies on an opportunistic basis, according to Timur Turlov.

Following the opening of new representative offices in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy and the Netherlands in FY2024, the bank plans to open representative offices in Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Denmark in FY2025. In the US, Timur Turlov expects the company's investment banking and research capabilities to help Freedom Holding gain a stronger foothold in the capital markets.

The Nasdaq bell rang to celebrate not only the success of Kazakhstan-based Freedom Holding Corp., but also the success of the country. Robert Phillips, Senior Managing Director of Nasdaq, recognised Kazakhstan as one of the world's leading innovation and technology hubs. The conditions created by the government allowed Freedom Holding to transform itself from a brokerage group into a fintech holding company, and being visible on Times Square was made possible by digital integrations with government services and open government policies.

Even though the core brokerage and banking businesses accounted for around 75% of revenues in the period, the company continues to invest in innovation and digitalisation, including enhancing AI-based solutions.

In FY2024, the Freedom holding's USD 200m domestic bond issue, the largest retail bond issue to date on the Astana International Exchange, was used to enter the telecommunications market in Kazakhstan. Through its telecommunications subsidiary Freedom holding aims to create a robust fintech ecosystem in the country, which is its fastest-growing market.

The global expansion of all types of banking and brokerage services remains on the company's agenda for the next financial year.

"We expect to continue to expand our operations globally, including the further development of our investment banking, capital markets advisory and research offering in the US, and to seek growth opportunities in Central Asia and Europe. We have strengthened our risk and compliance functions and look forward to delivering value through sustainable organic growth, strategic acquisitions and continued investment in technological innovation," Timur Turlov says.