Less ecommerce, more fintech for M-Daq as revenue dips in 2024

After four consecutive years of revenue growth, fintech firm M-Daq’s revenue dipped by 3.7% to S$56.8 million (US$44.3 million) in 2024.

The firm, which provides currency exchange services to businesses, says this was driven by a decline in foreign exchange (FX) spread and service fees from the ecommerce firms it works with.

Photo credit: M-Daq

Like the logistics companies that benefited from the upswing in online shopping, M-Daq is contending with the slowing growth in the ecommerce sector.

Last year, the company’s transaction flows from key ecommerce clients fell, Jeremy Sng, M-Daq’s general manager for corporate finance and strategy, tells Tech in Asia. This comes as ecommerce platforms face rising competition and defend their turf against hungry social commerce firms.

As the company adapted to this drop, however, it turned operating cash flow positive for the year.

Ecommerce dips, fintech rises

M-Daq specializes in cross-border payment and FX. It offers real-time currency conversions and FX risk management for international transactions.

While it primarily targets ecommerce companies, it also serves financial institutions as well as online travel agencies. Big names like JD.com, AliExpress, and Grab use its services.

Still, ecommerce businesses contributed US$25.8 million or 58% of its total revenue in 2024, its audited financial statements show.

That’s a little lower than its figure in 2023, though an uptick in fintech-related earnings, which made up 40% of its income last year, helped offset this.

Indeed, Sng notes that M-Daq has been diversifying its business away from ecommerce in favor of enterprise clients and fintech firms in the hope of landing on a more sustainable and balanced revenue mix. Offering services like collections and payments and FX forwards are part of these efforts.

Cash flow positive in 2024

One figure that is likely to draw interest is M-Daq’s loss before tax, which plummeted by 69%. This shift was primarily driven by a 59.3% decrease in “other expenses.”

Sng explains that M-Daq’s 2023 results included significant restructuring costs and write-offs from closing down non-core businesses.

It also cut staff expenses by 3.8% in 2024 after “mothballing” two business units and redeploying certain staff members “where possible.” Its management team also took a voluntary pay cut.

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