International rating agency S&P Global Ratings has upgraded the long-term credit ratings of four subsidiaries of Freedom Holding Corp. (FRHC) from 'B+' to 'BB-'. The outlook for all ratings is 'Stable'. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The upgrade affected Freedom Finance, Freedom Finance Global, Freedom Finance Europe, and Freedom Bank. The short-term ratings of these companies were affirmed at 'B'. Under the Kazakh national scale, the ratings of Freedom Finance and Freedom Bank were raised from 'kzBBB+' to 'kzA-'. The holding company's own long-term credit rating was maintained at 'B-'.
Analysts at the agency attribute the improvement to a three-year track record of building an effective risk management and compliance system. Freedom Holding Corp. exercises centralized control over compliance with sanctions requirements, cybersecurity, and reputational and regulatory risks in 22 countries of operation, having established interaction with 40 regulatory bodies. The holding conducts a global threat assessment once a year and stress testing twice a year.
According to S&P's forecasts, the group will maintain strong capitalization indicators over the next one to two years. The risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio is expected to remain above 10% with a planned slowdown in balance sheet growth to 20-25%. The ratio of average operating profit to risk-weighted assets over the last three years is 2.2%.
According to the agency, the group has become one of the largest digital ecosystems in Kazakhstan. The total client base reached 14 million users. Of these, 8.1 million are direct clients of the holding's financial companies.
In the last reporting period, Freedom Holding Corp. recorded record revenue and doubled net profit figures. Revenue since listing on NASDAQ has increased more than 26 times to $2.19 billion. Net profit doubled compared to 2025 from $76.2 million to $153.3 million.
The holding continues active international expansion: the company invested more than $500 thousand in developing its own subsidiary in Japan.
In the European market, the group expects to obtain a banking license in France, having announced its intention to invest 500 million euros in the region over five years.
Also earlier, Freedom Holding Corp. announced the launch of a secondary public offering (SPO) for $300 million.
Freedom Holding Corp. is a diversified company providing financial services, brokerage, securities trading, investment research and consulting, investment banking and underwriting, mortgage, insurance, telecommunications, online sale of air tickets and tickets for cultural and sports events, online supermarket services, and many others.