iFast Corporation has reported earnings of $19.04 million for the 1QFY2025 ended March 31, up 31.2% y-o-y.
The group's gross revenue for the quarter rose 24.4% y-o-y to $106.92 million.
iFast says that this increase in profitability was driven by a turnaround of iFast Global Bank (iGB) and continuing growth in the group's core wealth management platform business.
Earnings per share for the period came in at 6.19 cents, up from the 4.74 cents reported in the previous quarter.
The group reported a growth in assets under administration by 22.0% y-o-y to $25.68 billion as at March 31, 2025. iFast says that this is another record high despite generally weaker global equity markets due to tariff-related concerns originating from the US.
The group's profit before tax from non-banking operations increased 26.8% y-o-y to $23.37 million in 1QFY2025.
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iGB recorded a $1 million profit in 1QFY2025, a second consecutive quarterly profit, marking a reversal of the $2.28 million loss recorded in the year-ago quarter.
This is due to growth in customer deposits which has been "robust", contributing to the overall bank customer deposits growing 123.6% y-o-y to $1.15 billion as at the end of 1QFY2025. This is on the back of the launch of the Digital Personal Banking division which includes multi-currency account and fixed-term deposits, launched in April 2023.
This was driven by healthy growth in banking net revenue as deposits continued to grow, adding to net interest revenue, as well as the EzRemit business division.
iFast's Hong Kong business recorded a 12.8% y-o-y growth in gross revenue to $35.34 million in 1QFY202025. Profit before tax declined by 6.8% y-o-y to $12.33 million due to increased investments in the ePension division ahead of onboarding activity.
The group says that it expects the revenues and profitability of the ePension division to be higher in the second half of 2025 as the overall onboarding of the eMPF platform progresses to a substantially higher level.
iFAST Global Bank is expected to build upon its progress and achieve a full year of profitability
in 2025. The company expects further growth of the ePension division as onboarding rates continue to progress and the ORSO pension business starts to contribute.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the iFast expects 2025 to see robust growth rates in revenues and profitability compared to 2024.
For the 1QFY2025, the directors of iFast have declared an interim dividend of 1.60 cents per ordinary share, higher than the 1.30 cents per ordinary share declared in the same period a year ago.
Shares in iFast Corporation closed 7 cents higher or 0.983% up at $7.19 on Apr 25.
