Freedom Holding Corp. (FRHC)
Key Takeaways from Freedom Holding Corp.'s 2025 Annual Report: • Segments: Brokerage (683K accounts), Banking (2.5M customers), Insurance (1.17M policies), Other (payment & commerce). • Ecosystem: SuperApp (1.02M MAU, 183K DAU), Tradernet; big data & AI; digital mortgage and auto-loan in <24 hr...
Freedom Holding Corp. (FRHC) 2025 Annual Report Review
Introduction
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Freedom Holding Corp. ("FRHC" or the "Company") has released its 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K covering the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025. The filing presents an ambitious strategy, a robust fintech ecosystem, accelerating customer growth, and strong financial performance across four core segments: Brokerage, Banking, Insurance, and Other. This blog post breaks down the highlights, key metrics, strategic initiatives and risks, providing investors with a comprehensive, easy-to-understand review of FRHC’s annual results.
1. Business Overview (Item 1)
FRHC is a Nevada-incorporated financial services holding company operating through subsidiaries in Kazakhstan, Cyprus, the U.S., the U.K., Armenia, the UAE, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Germany, Spain, and more. A leader in democratizing access to international capital markets, FRHC offers:
• Brokerage – Retail and institutional equities, fixed income, derivatives, margin lending and proprietary trading via proprietary Tradernet and third-party clearing firms.
• Banking – Consumer and SME deposits, payment cards, mortgages, auto loans and broker-integration via the SuperApp, anchored by Freedom Bank Kazakhstan.
• Insurance – Life, accident, health (Freedom Life) and general non-life (Freedom Insurance) via leading carriers in Kazakhstan.
• Other – Payment processing, e-commerce, ticketing (Arbuz, Ticketon), plus early-stage telecom and media platforms in Kazakhstan.
Key Metrics
• Retail customer counts grew to 4.97 million across all segments (+78% YoY).
• Retail brokerage accounts rose to 683,000 (+29% YoY), with 151,000 active accounts.
• Banking customers surpassed 2.5 million, up from 904,000 a year ago.
• Insurance policyholders reached 1.17 million vs. 0.53 million a year ago.
• SuperApp MAU surged to 1.02 million (+12% YoY), DAU averaged 183,000.
• Executed a large regional bond issue to fund telecom and media initiatives.
2. Segment Highlights
2.1 Brokerage
• 49 offices, 1,784 employees across 10 countries.
• Transaction volume from U.S. equities and OTC, Europe, UAE and an internal OTC market-maker arrangement remains a key revenue driver.
• Margin lending receivables jumped to $3.3 billion as of Mar 31, 2025.
• Tradernet platform enhancements: multi-exchange access, real-time quotes, advanced order types and integrated U.S. market access.
• Investment banking on emerging market equity and debt offerings remains a strategic growth area.
2.2 Banking
• Assets totaled $4.4 billion as of Mar 31, 2025, ranking among the top eight Kazakh banks.
• Retail, SME & corporate customers: 2.5 million.
• Loan portfolio +16% YoY; deposit base +41% YoY.
• SuperApp integration: instant money movement between brokerage, cards, wallets, lending and payments.
• Digital mortgage and auto-loan engines deliver funds in <24 hours; credit approval via open banking and registries.
2.3 Insurance
• Freedom Life (life & health): $554 m assets, $466 m liabilities; 25% market share (life), 74% (accident) by GWP.
• Freedom Insurance (non-life): $157 m assets, $106 m liabilities; 6% total market share, 7% car liability share.
• Combined $30.6 m net profit for fiscal 2025 (+100% YoY in GWP).
• Cybersecurity, data analytics and digital renewals underpin rapid growth.
2.4 Other
• 2,981 employees; 67 offices.
• Payment processing, e-commerce, ticketing revenues $144 m (+5% of total net revenue).
• Launched Freedom Telecom (FWA) and Freedom Media (streaming) in Kazakhstan under AIFC umbrella.
• Regional fiber and tower acquisitions to build a national 4G/5G backbone.
3. Digital Fintech Ecosystem
FRHC’s competitive advantage is its unified digital stack. All services—brokerage, banking, insurance, payments, commerce—are delivered through a single sign-on ecosystem:
- SuperApp (mobile/web): multi-currency wallets (KZT, USD, EUR, RUB, CNY, TRY, AED), loyalty tiers (1–4% cashback), embedded lifestyle marketplace (grocery, ticketing).
- Tradernet: global market access (KASE, NYSE, Nasdaq, LSE, XETRA, SGX, HKEX), order-routing, advanced analytics.
- Big data & AI: real-time KYC/AML, automated credit decisioning, proactive cross-sell—reducing acquisition costs and deepening engagement.
- Open APIs to government registries for property, vehicle, tax data—accelerating digital mortgage and auto loans from weeks to <24 hours.
This synergy allows FRHC to scale internationally with a best-in-class user experience, high service stickiness and optimal capital efficiency.
4. Financial Performance
Fiscal 2025 Highlights vs. Fiscal 2024
| Metric | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue, Net | $2,050.5 m | $1,666.4 m | +23% |
| Gross Profit | $780.5 m | $709.5 m | +10% |
| Net Interest Income | $641.5 m | $204.7 m | +214% |
| Fee & Commission Income | $797.1 m | $927.3 m | -14% |
| Trading Income | $374.4 m | $525.1 m | -29% |
| Net Profit (Continuing Ops) | $484.0 m | $326.2 m | +48% |
| EPS (Diluted) | $7.87 | $5.72 | +38% |
| Total Assets | $9,912 m | $8,270 m | +20% |
| CET1 (Consolidated) | 27.4% | 29.2% | -1.8 pp |
Key Drivers
- Bounce-back in Proprietary Income – Trading profits rebounded as Kazakhstan sovereign bond yields widened, delivering $262 m in mark-to-market gains (vs. $347 m prior year).
- Record Net Interest Income – High nominal margin on government debt repo financing and loan growth in margins.
- **Insu 1,212 word count