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 — 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$540 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.