SINGAPORE (Oct 27): iFAST Corp reported earnings of $2.3 million for 3Q17 ended Sept, 21.5% higher than a year ago in 3Q16. This came on the back of a 24.9% rise in revenue to $26.2 million.
The increases were due mainly to the growth of the group’s business and Asset Under Administration (AUA) in both Business-to-Customer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) business divisions in the period, contributed by the group’s continuing efforts at strengthening its investment platforms in the various countries in the recent years.
As at Sept 30, the group’s AUA grew 19.3% y-o-y to reach a new record of $7.16 billion.
iFAST says its Singapore operations is still the major contributor to group revenue which grew 24.1% to nearly $19 million in 3Q17 from a year ago.
This was mainly contributed by increases in investment subscription amounts (including transfer-in amounts) in unit trusts (UTs), bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks and robo-advisory portfolios in the period.
In Malaysia, the significant growth of UT business and AUA contributed to a 38.6% increase in revenue to $1.9 million in 3Q17.
Hong Kong benefitted from continuing efforts to broaden the range and depth of its investment products and services, resulting in a 26.1% increase in revenue to $5.2 million in 3Q17.
Gross revenue in China operations, which are in its early stages, declined 30.3% to $140,000 in 3Q17 and This was because of the absence of certain ad-hoc contributions received in FY16 from institutional businesses which have been negatively affected by local regulatory changes since the beginning of this year.
Commission and fee paid or payable to third party financial advisers increased by 28.0% to $13.21 million in 3Q17 from $10.33 million in 3Q16.
iFAST says it has made significant progress in the last two to three years in becoming a more integrated wealth management platform to further strengthen its position as a key player in the wealth management industry.
The group also expects China to eventually become the largest wealth management market in Asia.
In the next few years, the group is targeting for net revenue to outgrow its operating expenses and this should lead to higher operating margins.
iFAST closed 1 cent higher at 94 cents on Friday.
