iFast Corporation posts 21.5% rise in Q3 net profit

FUND distributor iFast Corporation has posted a 21.5 per cent increase in group net profit to S$2.32 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 compared to the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 24.9 per cent to S$26.23 million, while net revenue, after deducting commission and fee paid or payable to third-party financial advisers, was 21.9 per cent higher at S$13.02 million.

The China operation posted a loss of S$1.03 million in Q3 FY2017, a 3.7 per cent reduction from the S$1.06 million loss in Q3 FY2016.

"The China operation is still in the early stages of building iFAST brand and business in this new market . . . As at Sept 30, 2017, the China operation had signed up more than 65 fund houses, with over 2,300 funds on its platform," the company said in its results statement.

Assets under administration (AUA) climbed 19.3 per cent year on year to hit a record S$7.16 billion as at Sept 30, 2017. The increase marked the fifth consecutive quarter of record AUA levels for the group.

Earnings per share rose to 0.88 Singapore cent in Q3 FY2017 from 0.72 Singapore cent in Q3 FY2016. Net asset value per share climbed to 30.44 Singapore cents as at end-Sept 2017 from 29.92 Singapore cents as at end-Dec 2016. The counter closed 1.5 Singapore cents higher at 94 Singapore cents on Friday.

Net profit for the first nine months rose 51.9 per cent to S$6.53 million.

The group released its results on Saturday.

It said that it believes it has made significant progress in the past two to three years in becoming a more integrated wealth management platform to further strengthen its position as a key player in the industry. "The initial start-up investments in China have also been important, as the group believes that China will eventually become the largest wealth management market in Asia."

The group believes that there is still a lot of room for growth as the current AUA level remains small relative to the size of the wealth management industry in Singapore and the other Asian markets where it operates.

Increasing focus will be channelled towards gaining scale as a platform, while ensuring continuing improvements in its service offerings.

"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 added.

Separately, iFast Corporation announced that Hongkong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has completed its investigation on the group's wholly-owned subsidiary, iFAST Financial (HK), and informed the unit on Oct 24, 2017 that the "SFC will not take further action against iFAST HK apart from issuing with the compliance advice letter to assist iFAST HK in future compliance".