iFast plunges over 11% after Temasek-linked shareholder offloads S$140 million worth of shares

Shares of iFast plunged minutes after the market opened on Tuesday (Aug 19), as major shareholder CP Invest – a subsidiary of Temasek-owned Cuscaden Peak Investments – reduced its stake in the company.

The counter was down 11.3 per cent or S$1.11 at S$8.66 as at 9.09 am, after closing at S$9.77 the previous day.

CP Invest offloaded about S$140 million worth of iFast shares at a 6.6 per cent discount to the previous day’s closing price. Morgan Stanley and UBS arranged the deal, according to Bloomberg.

CGS International analyst Tay Wee Kuang said investors are likely taking this as a sign that iFast is “fairly valued” at S$9.77. He added that it is likely that they are taking in profit, especially after iFast’s strong second-quarter results and run-up in recent months.

“(CP Invest) still have 15 million shares, which some investors may view as an overhang to the share price as they could sell it at a lower price going forward if they want to monetise their stake quickly,” he added.

Prior to the latest block deal, CP Invest also pared its iFast stake in January and February.

Tuesday’s sell-off comes a day after iFast Pay Malaysia, a Malaysia-incorporated subsidiary of iFast, received in-principle approval from Bank Negara Malaysia to operate as an electronic money issuer and hold a Money Services Business Class A licence.

Both DBS and CGS International reiterated calls to “buy” and “add” on Jul 29, with target prices of S$10 and S$9.20, respectively, after iFast’s Q2 results.

The approval was described as a “regulatory milestone” by the subsidiary on Monday.

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