Big superannuation administrator, Link has moved further down the road of floating off its property settlement business, PEXA, after posting a decline in net profit after tax of $65 million.
Link, which is the major shareholder in PEXA, said today that the other shareholders – the Commonwealth Bank and Morgan Stanley – had agreed to explore the possibility of an initial public offering (IPO) for the business.
It represents a significant move by Link and the other shareholders in circumstances where PEXA recorded a strong half with a 27% increase in revenue to $99.2 million and a 90% lift in EBITDA to $51.5 million.
Commenting on the broader Link half-year result, the company’s chief executive, Vivek Bhatia said it had successfully navigated some challenging external conditions, demonstrating financial resilience.
He said the group reported EBITDA of $137 million and net operating cash flow of $192 million, having navigated the impacts of Brexit, COVID-19 and superannuation regulatory reforms including Protecting Your Super (PYS), Putting Members Interests First (PMIF) and the Early Release Scheme.
The company said it had handled 2.4 million early release superannuation payments valued at around $18 billion, and had managed contract renewals with Cbus and Hesta.
The Link board declared an interim dividend of 4.5 cents per share 60% franked.
Future Group is set to take on nearly $1 billion in funds under management (FUM) and welcome more than 100,000 new members following two significant successor fund transfers.
Insignia’s Master Trust business suffered a 1.9 per cent dip in FUA in the third quarter, amid total net outflows of $1.8 billion.
While the Liberal senator has accused super funds of locking everyday Australians out of the housing market, industry advocates say the Coalition’s policy would only push home ownership further out of reach.
Australia’s largest superannuation fund has confirmed all members who had funds stolen during the recent cyber fraud crime have been reimbursed.