Company: FRHC
Filing Date: 2025-06-13
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000924805-25-000012
Chunk: 124

Company: Freedom Holding Corp.
Filing Date: 2025-06-13
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 124
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 or expensive to conduct our operations or make our services less attractive to our customers.

Continuing inflation has driven up the cost of goods and services and may further increase our expenses, weaken our competitive position, or lower consumer spending power.

Continuing inflation has led to higher prices for goods and services, which could increase the cost of delivering our services, weaken our competitive position, or reduce consumers’ purchasing power. Specifically, most of our operations and expenditures are based in Kazakhstan, where expenses are largely denominated in Kazakhstan tenge. As a result, inflation in Kazakhstan significantly affects our cost structure. Due to various factors, including geopolitical issues, the country is currently experiencing elevated inflation, which has driven up business costs, including for supplies and labor. These inflationary challenges, which may be intensified by geopolitical conflicts or shifts in global economic policy, such as U.S. or other countries trade policy, could be expected to persist for an uncertain duration. According to the National Statistics Bureau of the Kazakhstan Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms, annual consumer inflation was 18.1% in March 2023, 9.1% in March 2024, and 10% in March 2025. A prolonged period of inflation, especially when paired with high interest rates, may destabilize markets, spark new financial crises, reduce loan activity, increase default rates, weaken consumer spending and investment activities, and damage consumer confidence, all of which could negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Changes in U.S. or other countries trade policies, including the imposition of tariffs and retaliatory tariffs, may adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Changes to international trade and investment policies by the U.S. or other countries, and the uncertainty about potential changes, could negatively impact financial markets globally and currency exchange rates. Significant increases in tariff rates, either broadly applied or targeted at specific goods or trading partners, could adversely impact economic conditions and/or result in higher inflation, which could result in financial market volatility as markets adjust to the incremental cost of doing business and/or new business models to reduce the impacts, as well as adversely impact asset prices. Also, escalation of tensions between the U.S. and China, including tariff increases, could lead to further U.S. measures that adversely affect financial markets, disrupt world trade and commerce and lead to trade retaliation, including through the use of counter tariffs, foreign exchange measures or the large-scale sale of U.S. Treasury bonds. 

Any restrictions on the activities of businesses,