Latest news with #eMPF
Business Times
28-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
iFast targets higher dividend payout ratio amid growth across business units
[SINGAPORE] Digital bank and wealth management platform iFast is targeting a payout ratio of between 25 and 30 per cent as profitability improves across the business. 'We have come to a stage where we feel comfortable that we can start to increase the dividend more significantly,' said CEO Lim Chung Chun at a briefing on Monday (Jul 28). This has resulted in an expected dividend per share of S$0.08 for FY2025, a 35.6 per cent increase from S$0.059 in FY2024. The second interim dividend of S$0.02 per share for the first half of 2025 is also an increase of 33.3 per cent from the second interim dividend of S$0.015 in H1 2024. 'As the balance sheet gets bigger and bigger, then we'll probably feel more comfortable in increasing the dividend payout ratio,' said Lim. Customer accounts in iFast have crossed the one-million mark, and customer deposits in iFast Global bank hit S$1.5 billion at the end of Q2 2025, a growth of 45 per cent year on year. The company is holding fast to its Hong Kong guidance, with a net revenue target of over HK$1 billion (S$163.27 million) in FY2025 and profit before tax of over HK$380 million. Net revenue for H1 2025 stood at HK$403.7 million and profit before tax for H1 2025 stood at HK$163.7 million. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The Hong Kong business is expected to perform better in the second half of 2025, as iFast expects to onboard all the Trustees of MPF – the Hong Kong retirement savings scheme – onto the eMPF platform by the end of the year. The eMPF platform is a central and integrated electronic platform to standardise, streamline and automate MPF scheme administration work. 'The bulk of the eMPF business will be onboarded by the end of the year, so correspondingly, we expect that the revenue and the profitability will actually be increased,' said Lim. Operating expenses in Hong Kong are also expected to ramp up as hiring increases to cope with the incoming volume, with each subsequent quarter of 2025 being higher than the last. As revenue increases with more onboarding, iFast expects that profitability in the second half will be better than the first half. A decision has also been made to prioritise the eMPF business in Hong Kong, delaying Orso – a Hong Kong pension scheme – to next year rather than Q2 2025. As a result, the Orso business is only expected to start contributing early next year, with the current Hong Kong guidance taking that into account. The China segment of iFast's wealth management business has also seen losses narrow in H1 2025, falling to a loss of S$1.8 million from a loss of S$5.9 million in FY2024 and a loss of S$7.2 million in FY2023. Lim attributes this to cost management and reduction as well as improvement in revenue for the segment. A China desk was launched at the end of last year by iFast in a bid to serve more offshore Chinese money, and complement its onshore business in that country. The offshore business is progressing well, and staff from China have relocated to Singapore to staff the desk, said Lim. 'We are aware that there's still a level of performance that's still not good enough. We certainly want to work towards profitability, the current expectation is that we will be able to narrow losses further in the quarters ahead and get into profitability,' he said without disclosing a target date. Artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities are also being built up at iFast, with an AI innovation centre set up at the end of 2023. The AI capabilities will be focused on the bank, with the need to transcend any language barrier given the global nature of the bank. 'You want to be able to serve customers from around the world who are using different languages, but if you want them to bank with us in one or a few locations, then the use of AI will actually be very important in the long run,' said Lim.
Business Times
25-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
iFast posts 37.9% rise in Q2 net profit to S$22.1 million
[SINGAPORE] Digital bank and wealth management platform iFast Corp reported a 37.9 per cent increase in net profit for the second quarter ended June to S$22.1 million, from S$16 million in the year-ago period. Earnings per share stood at S$0.0731 for Q2, up from S$0.0538 in the previous corresponding period. In a bourse filing on Friday (Jul 25), the company reported that revenue for the same period rose 23 per cent to S$103.3 million, from S$84 million previously. Interest revenue rose 74.1 per cent on the year to S$16.9 million in Q2. This brings the total revenue to S$120.2 million, up 28.3 per cent on the year. The directors of iFast have proposed a dividend of S$0.02 per share, up from S$0.015 per share in the previous corresponding period. The dividend will be paid out on Aug 21, after the record date on Aug 7. They expect to propose a total dividend of S$0.08 per share for the 2025 financial year, up 35.6 per cent from S$0.059 per share in FY2024. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Improved performance Earnings for the first half of 2025 rose 34.7 per cent to S$41.1 million, from S$30.5 million in H1 2024. This translates to an earnings per share of S$0.1368 in H1 2025, up from S$0.1028 previously. Revenue for the half-year period was up 19.7 per cent on the year at S$194.9 million. Interest revenue for H1 grew 90.7 per cent on the year to S$32.3 million. Total revenue was 26.4 per cent higher at S$227.2 million. The improvement in the group's bottom line came amid growth in its Hong Kong ePension business, a turnaround in iFast Global Bank, and continuing growth in its core wealth management platform business. The ePension division refers to its pension administration services. iFast's Hong Kong business saw a 33.4 per cent year-on-year growth in gross revenue to S$45.6 million in Q2. This came amid higher contributions from its ePension business and wealth management business. Profit before tax for the overall Hong Kong business grew 17.8 per cent on the year to S$15.7 million in the recorded quarter. iFast expects the ePension division to improve as the group continues to onboard the eMPF business. The eMPF platform aims to standardise, streamline and automate the administration processes of Hong Kong's Mandatory Provident Fund scheme. The group's global bank segment recorded a net profit of S$700,000 in Q2, compared with a loss of S$1.6 million in the previous year. For H1 2025, profit was at S$1.7 million, reversing from a loss of S$3.9 million in the year-ago period. Customer deposits grew 124.2 per cent on the year to S$1.5 billion as at the end of Q2 2025. The group's assets under administration grew 21.6 per cent on the year to a record of S$27.2 billion as at end June, as net inflows hit an all-time high of S$2.2 billion. iFast maintains capital regulatory ratios above the minimum requirement. The liquidity coverage ratio for the bank stood at 655 per cent, the net stable funding ratio was at 210 per cent, and the total capital ratio was at 24 per cent as at Jun 30. 'Over the long term, the group expects that its diversified mix of fee-based income, net interest income from its banking division, and prudent capital management strategies will support growth in return on equity,' said iFast. The group's return on equity in H1 was 24.6 per cent. It expects group revenue and profitability to show healthy improvement in the second half of 2025. Shares of iFast closed 3.4 per cent or S$0.26 lower at S$7.42 on Friday, before the results were released.
RTHK
07-06-2025
- Business
- RTHK
'All MPF schemes to be onboarded to eMPF this year'
'All MPF schemes to be onboarded to eMPF this year' The managing director of the MPFA Cheng Yan-chee says the platform is expected to save administration costs of up to HK$40 billion over 10 years. Photo: RTHK The managing director of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA), Cheng Yan-chee, on Saturday said the authority aims to transfer all MPF accounts to the eMPF Platform within this year. The one-stop platform, which came into operation in June last year, aims to streamline and automate the administrative work of MPF schemes. Speaking on a radio programme, Cheng said the authority is undergoing the second phase of onboarding schemes to the platform, and all MPF accounts can be viewed on the site within this year. "We had our first phase of onboarding from June to October last year, involving small-scale trustees. They have fewer employee and employer accounts. They account for two percent of the total number of accounts in the city," he said. "The second phase is from March to August, dealing with midsize trustees who have more accounts. After this phase, one-fourth of all accounts will be onboarded to the platform." The director said he expects the platform to help reduce administration costs and save up to HK$40 billion in the coming 10 years. Meanwhile, Cheng said the authority is reviewing the maximum and minimum levels of MPF contributions, considering factors such as the socioeconomic situation and income distribution, and will hand in a report to the government next year.
Bloomberg
06-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Hong Kong's New Platform for $166 Billion Pension Faces Glitches
Some Hong Kong pensioners migrating to a new electronic system for retirement savings have experienced glitches, raising concerns over the platform's reliability as it enters a key phase of adding more users. The eMPF platform, built by a unit of Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li's PCCW Ltd. and Singapore-based subcontractor iFast Corp., showed tech issues including log-in difficulty, according to people familiar with the project, who requested not to be named.
South China Morning Post
05-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
It will pay Hong Kong's workers to check their savings after MPF shake-up
Hong Kong's retirement savings scheme has had its fair share of criticism over the years. The meagre compulsory monthly contributions and relatively high administration fees charged by private service providers mean many retirees are struggling to make ends meet. Thankfully, a revamp is under way. It is welcome news that fees charged under the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) have fallen by 36 per cent since the launch of a centralised electronic platform last year, one of the scheme's most significant reforms since its introduction in 2000. The fee currently set at 37 basis points (0.37 per cent), which is 36 per cent lower than the average of 58 basis points (0.58 per cent) charged by trustees before switching to the e-platform, is expected to decrease gradually. The cumulative savings from lower fees are estimated to reach HK$30 billion to HK$40 billion (US$3.8 billion to US$5.1 billion) over a 10-year period, representing a decrease of 41 to 55 per cent in fees, according to the MPF authority. The massive savings speak volumes for the inadequacies of the previous arrangements. The eMPF was launched last June to provide a centralised online platform that would replace the separate systems used by 12 different operators, allowing all service providers, 367,000 employers and 4.75 million members to manage fund assets worth HK$1.338 trillion on a single platform on their mobile phones or computers. A quarter of the small and medium-tier accounts would have migrated to the platform by August. The top four players that manage 70 per cent of the MPF's assets are slated to move over between September and December – a process described as very challenging.
