Rohith Murthy, CEO of MoneyHero, outlines the strategic roadmap aimed at achieving long-term profitability while prioritizing sustainability.
In a bustling financial landscape where conventional wisdom keeps crumbling, Rohith Murthy, CEO of MoneyHero Group, is banking on an age-old business trick - diversify revenue, slash costs.
MoneyHero Group, a conglomerate that encompasses personal finance powerhouses like SingSaver, Seedly, and Creatory, has meticulously crafted a strategy to expand its revenue channels, and significantly reduce financial losses, as shared by Mr. Murthy in a recent interview.
Listed on the Nasdaq in 2023, MoneyHero continued its journey on US stock exchanges, joining a band of Singapore-based start-ups aiming for global dominance. Despite facing rough waters since its listing, MoneyHero maintains a strong foothold, boasting zero debt and substantial cash reserves, ensuring a robust foundation for future growth.
In this candid conversation, Mr. Murthy shared insights into MoneyHero's mission to reshape its business model, fostering long-term growth and amplifying shareholder value in a volatile market climate. To achieve this, MoneyHero is systematically focusing on high-profit zones, such as insurance and wealth management.
Q: Let's embark on your story. What's the original vision behind MoneyHero, and what spurred the decision to go public in the US?
A: The MoneyHero narrative dates back nearly a decade, driven by a vision that's straightforward - simplify individual finance and make it accessible to all. Today, we stretch across Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Philippines, owning the largest slice of the revenue pie in these markets.
Our diverse brand lineup includes MoneyHero (Hong Kong), SingSaver and Seedly (Singapore), Money101 (Taiwan), and Moneymax (Philippines), accompanied by the B2B platform Creatory, operating across all markets. With a user-base of approximately 7.5 million registered members and over 1.7 million financial applications facilitated, MoneyHero has built unwavering trust with both consumers and financial institutions.
To preserve and strengthen this trust, we're constantly working to expand our ecosystem. For example, our strategic partnership with TransUnion in Hong Kong grants us access to credit scoring data to provide personalized recommendations to our users. Similar collaborations with Bolttech speed up our insurance growth, allowing us to offer a seamless and hassle-free insurance purchasing experience. Bolttech's integration fortifies our ecosystem by connecting banking and insurance services effortlessly, enhancing user experience and overall value.
Q: Since the IPO, MoneyHero has faced questioning over its financial performance and stock price. Concerns surround expenses, growth sustainability, and the risk of delisting. What would you say to reassure investors and the broader market?
A: We've been public for over 18 months now, navigating tough sailing during a turbulent era. Our primary focus, however, is on tackling issues head-on, proactively. And as CEO, this initiative is my top priority.
Despite the market's challenges, we've refocused on boosting revenue quality, squeezing margins, and becoming more financially prudent. Examining our full-year 2024 results, we significantly improved our adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) loss in Q4 2024. When I took over in Q2 2024, the loss stood at US$9.3 million (S$12 million), which we brought down to US$2.9 million in Q4 2024, demonstrating clear progress on our path to sustainable profitability.
One critical aspect of this transformation concerns our evolving revenue mix. Earlier, credit cards represented our primary revenue source, but our focus now lies on high-margin, recurring revenue streams, such as insurance and wealth management, which accounted for over 20% of our FY2024 revenue. Notably, income from our insurance products surged nearly 40% year-on-year in FY2024, highlighting the success of our diversification efforts.
From an operational standpoint, we've made some tough decisions to streamline and significantly optimize our expenses. We remain committed to maintaining a lean cost structure while sustaining our growth, all aimed at improving adjusted EBITDA and maximizing shareholder value.
As of the end of 2024, we retained a strong financial position with cash reserves and equivalents of approximately US$42.5 million and no debt. This solid financial footing enables us to invest strategically in the next phase of growth.
I urge investors to recognize that we enjoy lasting support from influential backers like Pacific Century Group (PCG), who endorse our strategic direction and long-term vision. Moreover, I and our leadership team own significant stakes in MoneyHero, strengthening our alignment with the goal of generating sustainable shareholder value.
Q: What's your timeline for a clear path to profitability, and what strategies do you hope to implement to fostering long-term growth?
A: Profitability is our top priority, forming the core of the efficiency-focused strategy I initiated shortly after assuming the CEO role approximately 15 months ago. We anticipate progressing towards positive adjusted EBITDA during the latter half of 2025 - a milestone we're increasingly confident of achieving given our consistent quarterly improvements.
To support this goal, we've adopted an AI-centric approach that leverages AI tools to boost productivity across areas like content creation, customer service, design, and engineering.
Another essential focus is shifting our revenue mix towards high-margin industries like insurance, lending, and wealth management. We've already embarked on this trajectory. By digitalizing our platform, enhancing user experience remains a top priority.
Last year, we prioritized data gathering and analysis. We now manage a central data platform that guides us in better understanding and catering to our 7.5 million members through personalized recommendations and tailored services. This strategy has enabled us to reduce our reliance on paid marketing, which dipped by 23% year-over-year in Q4 2024.
With AI-driven content production ramping up, we anticipate organic traffic growth to be the primary engine fueling profitability.
Worldwide, consolidated fintech aggregators have proven to thrive in fragmented markets, streamlining them into sustainable, profitable ecosystems. MoneyHero is strategically poised to usher change across South-east Asia.
Q: MoneyHero recently announced a collaboration with OSL in the digital assets arena. What's the reasoning behind this partnership, and are there any plans for further digital asset investments?
A: This joint venture marks an exciting and crucial first step for us as we strategically delve into the digital assets niche. The region is witnessing an increase in interest in digital asset accounts, regulated by authorities like the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong. Digital assets are increasingly viewed alongside traditional insurance, stocks, and banking products, offering improved user experiences, greater product diversity, and new monetization opportunities for our platform.
Personally, I have been closely observing trailblazers like Strategy and Metaplanet, who have successfully implemented digital asset strategies and subsequently delivered impressive stock performance. Their accomplishments highlight the untapped shareholder value that MoneyHero can unlock through careful, well-thought-out moves in this field.
At present, we're still assessing the materialization of additional investments, weighing risks, potential rewards, and alignment with our long-term objectives. Our solid financial standpoint and disciplined capital allocation strategy enable us to fully evaluate strategic opportunities in the digital assets domain.
Q: What key indicators of progress should stakeholders pay attention to in the next 12 months?
A: First, our focus remains on moving towards positive adjusted EBITDA during the latter half of the year. Our revenue target for the year stands at US$100 million. Significantly improving margins will be crucial while prioritizing both profitability and top-line growth.
Second, we aim to extend our insurance business, particularly in the car insurance segment, which demonstrates steady recurring revenue. This emphasis on rapid growth in the market sets the foundation for implementing this pattern across other verticals like insurance and wealth management. Additionally, we aim to develop targeted, member-centric strategies that reduce our reliance on paid marketing.
While quarterly results provide updates on our strategic progress, it's essential not to solely concentrate on these short-term figures. Examining our trailing 12-month trajectory yields a clearer understanding of how we consistently improve across key markers. By focusing on these significant trends and broad indicators, stakeholders can gain a more accurate, meaningful comprehension of our growth momentum and operational efficiency.
Fintech is a vast concept, often overshadowed by businesses that lack clear business models or a path to profitability. However, when you examine successful fintech consolidators globally, where disciplined execution, transparent profitability, and strategic acquisitions have been key, a clearer picture of the benefits of fintech aggregators emerges.
MoneyHero, with its initial vision to simplify individual finance and make it accessible to all, is now expanding across Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Philippines. The company is aiming to boost profitability by focusing on high-margin, recurring revenue streams, such as insurance and wealth management, while streamlining expenses.
To achieve these objectives, MoneyHero is making strategic partnerships and implementing an AI-centric approach in various aspects of its operations. The company's goal is to progress towards positive adjusted EBITDA during the latter half of 2025, demonstrating its commitment to long-term growth and maximizing shareholder value.
