Wealth-management fintech iFAST Corp. posts a weak first quarter on dreary global market conditions.
iFAST, a Singapore-based fintech with international operations in a number of countries, including China and the UK, reported a significant profit drop of almost 35 percent and a revenue decline of slightly more than 5 percent in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier.
«While it is clear that the wealth management platform business that the group is building has very strong long-term growth drivers, in the short term, financial market conditions can cause interruptions in its growth path, and 2022 looks likely to be one of those years,» iFAST said in a statement filed to SGX Saturday.
Market Turmoil
The company cited the sharp drop in Asia ex-Japan equities due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising inflationary pressures. In addition, Hong Kong’s spike in Covid-19 cases hurt market sentiment there, iFAST indicated.
«Overall, the group expects to see a moderate growth in net revenue in 2022 as a whole, but also expects to see some declines in profitability,» the company said.
Assets under administration fell 2 percent to $18.63 billion Singapore dollars from the end of last year but were up more than 15 percent from the end of March a year earlier. Despite declines in stock and bond prices globally, the fintech saw net inflows of S$699 million during the quarter.
The company which is listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), has a presence in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, India, and the U.K. It offers consumer and business access to investment products and offers discretionary portfolio management services, research, administration, and transaction services.
A version of this article originally appeared on «Shenton Wire.»
