Lim Chung Chun, executive chairman of iFast Corp, saw an increase in his stake in the company. On April 27, 60,000 shares for $281,200 or $4.69 each were acquired by Lim via a nominee account. This raised his deemed stake in the company to around 16.9 million shares or 5.794%, up from 5.773% previously.
In addition, Lim holds a direct stake of 42.5 million shares, giving him a total direct and deemed stake of nearly 59.5 million shares or 20.323%, up from 20.303% previously.
iFast made a share buyback recently too. On April 26, the company acquired 400,000 shares for between $4.89 and $5.05 each. This is the first time the company bought back shares under a fresh mandate following its AGM on April 25.
iFast recently made the news for not quite the right reasons. On April 29, the company announced it failed to win one of the five digital banking licences in Malaysia. Back in 2020, the company similarly failed to clinch one of the five licences awarded by Singapore.
In an announcement on April 29, the company notes that it has recently completed its acquisition of a UK-based fully licensed bank, BFC Bank, in March. The bank has been renamed iFAST Global Bank and is currently a member of Swift, a direct member of Faster Payments as well as Clearing House Automated Payment System.
Having failed to win the digital banking licences, iFast Global Bank will be positioned as a “digital bank to meet the overall needs of its Fintech ecosystem”. This will also help the group “accelerate the growth of its overall wealth management business and take a significant step towards building a truly global business model”.
See also: Stamford Land’s executive chairman ups stake to 46.059%
On April 23, citing global stock market conditions that went from being very positive to very poor, iFast reported earnings for 1QFY2022 ended March was down 34.9% to $5.74 million from a year ago.
The company has guided for moderate growth in its net revenue for the current FY2022 but with a decline in profitability, prompting a series of earnings downgrades from the analysts.
Nevertheless, iFast is upbeat on the longer-term prospects of its business, especially regarding earnings contributions from its pensions platform in Hong Kong seen in FY2023 onwards. Year to date, iFast shares have fallen by some 40%.
See also: Raffles Medical Group chairman ups stake to 55.592%
Shipyard spinoff sees insider transactions
Insiders of Yangzijiang Financial Holding (YFH) were quick to increase their stake on the second day the stock was listed.
The investment firm is a spinoff from Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings). Shares in YFH were distributed on a one-on-one basis in specie for each unit of Yangzijiang share held.
As part of the spinoff, Yangzijiang transferred some $4.2 billion worth of assets to YFH, which translates to $1.08 per share. The company’s management had indicated plans to distribute 30% of its earnings as dividends from FY2022 to FY2024. According to a recent DBS Group Research note, YFH has also indicated it might start to buy back shares if the price drops below its book value.
YFH started trading on April 28. It opened at 69 cents and ended the first day at 62 cents. It ended April 29 at 55 cents, marking a 20.44% loss in just two trading days. YFH closed at 47 cents on May 5, representing a drop of a third since its listing.
On April 29, CEO Vincent Toe Teow Heng acquired 400,000 shares for 57 cents each, bringing his total stake to 600,000 shares. Besides Toe, Chew Sutat, the lead independent director, also increased his stake on the same day. He acquired 150,000 shares for just over 57 cents each, bringing his total to 338,000 shares.
On May 4, another independent director, Chua Kim Leng, bought as well. He acquired 50,000 shares for 51 cents each. Chua, a former assistant managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, did not hold any YFH shares prior to this. The following day, Chua bought another 100,000 shares at 48 cents each. On the same day, Chew bought another 162,000 shares at 48.5 cents each, bringing his total holdings to 500,000 shares.
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Ren Yuanlin, executive chairman of YFH, explains in an earlier interview that YFH was spun off so the shipbuilding business and investment business could grow independently, giving investors a more “accurate” valuation of each entity.
