iFast drops more than 7% on lower net profits

SHARES of iFast Corporation tumbled at the start of a new trading week as investors react to the fintech platform posting lower net profits over the weekend.

The counter dived just minutes after the Singapore stock market opened, dropping by as much as 7.1 per cent or S$0.40 to an intra-day low of S$5.26, as at 9.07 am on Monday (Apr 25), with over 432,000 shares changing hands.

It quickly recovered slightly to S$5.30 a few minutes later and has been trading at around these levels for the rest of the first hour since market opened.

The counter ended the day down 6.2 per cent or S$0.35 at S$5.31, with 2.5 million shares changing hands.

No married deals were recorded, according to ShareInvestor data.

iFast Corporation : AIY 0% posted on Saturday a near 35 per cent year-on-year drop in net profit to S$5.74 million for the first 3 months ended Mar 31, 2022, as global stock market conditions turned sour.

The bottom line was lower in line with decreased revenue and higher operating expenses.

Net revenue for the quarter was 1.2 per cent lower at S$28.15 million as an 18.7 per cent decline in non-recurring net revenue offset an 8.8 per cent increase in recurring net revenue. Earnings per share for the quarter fell to 1.97 Singapore cents, down from 3.22 cents a year ago.

Operating expenses rose 10.4 per cent year on year to S$21.12 million in Q1 2022 as the group continues to invest in its next phase of growth.

The group’s assets under administration (AUA) declined 2 per cent quarter on quarter to S$18.63 billion as at Mar 31, 2022, on the back of declines in stock and bond prices globally. When comparing year on year however, the group’s AUA was up 15.6 per cent.