iFast plunges 12% after cutting its Hong Kong profit guidance
[SINGAPORE] iFast shares plunged as much as 12 per cent on Monday (Apr 28) morning, after the investment platform operator revised its Hong Kong operations' profit target and reported first-quarter earnings.
As at noon, the counter dropped 12.1 per cent or S$0.87 to S$6.32.
The Singapore-based company cut its Hong Kong profit before tax target for 2025 to HK$380 million (S$64.3 million) from its previous guidance of HK$500 million, based on its earnings report on Friday (Apr 25).
iFast reported a net profit rise of 31.2 per cent year on year to S$19 million for the first quarter ended Mar 31, which was driven by a 24.4 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue to S$106.9 million.
This was largely due to a turnaround in its UK bank and continued growth in the group's core wealth management platform business.
DBS said on Apr 25, after iFast reported earnings, that its Q1 revenue and net profit were slightly below expectations.
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'Growth in Hong Kong was weighed down by higher investments in the ePension division, with PBT declining 6.8 per cent year on year despite a 12.8 per cent increase in revenue. The dip in profitability is due to increased investments in the ePension division ahead of onboarding activity,' said DBS.
ePension refers to its pension administration services.
'However, both the revenues and profitability of the ePension division are expected to be higher in the second half of 2025 as the overall onboarding of the eMPF platform progresses to a substantially higher level,' the bank added.
DBS has a buy call on iFast with a price target of S$10.88.
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