It has gained 1310% in the past one year as it is the major beneficiaries of the GST. It expects to sustain its strong growth momentum in 2015, driven by the launch of new cloud based solutions for SMEs and high growth from the China market.
Its official opines there is still huge potential for it to grow its recurring income as it launches its service as a Saas in June 2015. Saas allows smaller property companies to rent IFCA’s software.
SMEs can subscribe to its software services by paying a monthly subscription fee of rm4000 to rm5000 instead of forking out hundreds of thousands of ringgit upfront.
It is seeking to transfer to main market.
It posted a net profit of rm21.07 million for the financial year ended Dec 31 2014 from rm1.73 million in Fy2013 mainly due to the scalable nature of the software business. Revenue for FY2014 rose 71.59% to rm89.24 million from rm52 million.
It is Malaysia’s largest maker of cloud based software for property companies with around 80% market share of the domestic market. It serves major property developers including SP Setia, Mah Sing and EcoWorld.
With the implementation of the GST on April 1 2015, which forces smaller companies to computerize and upgrade their software believed it’s a very good time for IFCA to launch Saas.
The group will launch four Saas products in 2015, covering business accounting solutions for contracting business, standard operating procedures, marketing and contract management
IFCA will not restrict itself to the property industry but will expand its services in the ICT, construction and engineering sectors.
For 2015, IFCA is also banking on growth from its China market.
It expects the China market to grow significantly in 2015, leveraging on its reputation and proven products. It accounted for 30% of the group’s revenue in FY2014.
IFCA’s clients in China include big names like the Wanda and R&F groups and Country garden Holdings Co Ltd. Other regional clients include Japan’s Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd and Singapore’s CapitalLand Ltd.
Its Fy2104 recorded good results were not solely from GST software upgrade jobs, which only contributed 20% to its revenue in Fy2014. Its new software and cloud based products targeted at bigger property players like SP Setia, EcoWorld and Sunway Bhd had helped boost its profitability.
Currently (April 2015) institutional investors hold about 20% stake in the company.
As at Jan 23 2015, Yong holds a direct interest of 0.51% and an indirect stake of 42.48% in IFCA.
Going forward, IFCA has its contribution from China and it will still benefit from the migration from the Windows platform to a mobile based platform to a mobile based platform. Saas and its plan to transfer to the Main Market are the potential catalyst.
KUALA LUMPUR (April 17): Shares of IFCA MSC Bhd rose in early trade today on the back of positive outlook for the company and target price upgrade by CIMB Research.
At 9.20am, IFCA MSC was up two sen to RM1.64 with 533, 500 shares traded.
In a note April 16, CIMB Research said it recently took IFCA MSC’s management on a roadshow in Singapore and Hong Kong.
CIMB Research has maintained “Add” on IFCA MSC at RM1.63 with a higher target price of RM1.92 (from RM1.48).
The research house said it met 21 fund managers from 18 institutions.
CIMB Research said investor interest was strong for IFCA MSC and some were surprised that it was successful in China.
“Management spoke about its plans to launch service as a software (SaaS) in the domestic market in mid-2015.
“We raise our FY15-17 EPS forecasts by 5%-28% to reflect potential earnings from SaaS, which lifts our target price, still based on 21x 2016 P/E (in line with domestic peers).
“The stock remains an Add. Potential catalysts include higher-than-expected take-up rates for SaaS and its transfer to the Main Board in 2H15,” it said.
IFCA MSC - Its SaaS timeAuthorPublish date:
Fri, 17 Apr 2015, 10:13 AM
Target RM1.92 (Stock Rating: ADD)
We recently took IFCA MSC's management on a roadshow in Singapore and Hong Kong. We met 21 fund managers from 18 institutions. Investor interest was strong for IFCA and some were surprised that it was successful in China. Management spoke about its plans to launch service as a software (SaaS) in the domestic market in mid-2015. We raise our FY15-17 EPS forecasts by 5%-28% to reflect potential earnings from SaaS, which lifts our target price, still based on 21x 2016 P/E (in line with domestic peers). The stock remains an Add. Potential catalysts include higher-than-expected take-up rates for SaaS and its transfer to the Main Board in 2H15.
What Happened
We recently took IFCA MSC's CEO Ken Yong on a roadshow to meet institutional investors in Singapore and Hong Kong. We spent one day marketing in Singapore and another day in Hong Kong. In total, we met 21 fund managers from 18 institutions. There were a few positive surprises from the meetings: i) in mid-2015, the company is looking to launch three software modules through the service as a software (SaaS), which basically involves renting software, targeting the smaller property developers. This was a positive surprise as the company had earlier indicated plans to launch only one SaaS software module. ii) The company is looking to launch its e-commerce portal later this year, which is expected to add value to its current customers. We have not assumed any earnings from this business division.
What We Think
We believe the project cost management software will be the most popular among the three SaaS software modules. This software was popular in China as developers there focused on controlling cost due to the slowdown in the property market in the past few years. It could be the same for the Malaysia property market. In addition, our discussions with industry sources reveal that small construction players are not ready for GST. In current market conditions, there is a great need for small property and construction players to automate GST-related finances. Hence, SaaS is ideal for the small players. While SaaS is still new in Malaysia, it is very popular, particularly in USA. Companies need not be tied down by any software purchased and upfront cost is minimal.
What You Should Do
Remain invested in the stock. Over the next few months, news flow should be positive, with SaaS taking off. The beauty of SaaS is its scalability and we have not assumed any earnings from SaaS being launched in Indonesia.