IIFL to shut broking operations in Singapore

India Infoline Ltd (IIFL) is shutting its stock broking operations in Singapore and eliminating 11 positions, as it is not able to achieve break-even there due to high costs.

“Because of a high-cost structure, we were not able to meet the break-even requirement in Singapore operations. That is why we are scaling down and restructuring the operations there,” Nirmal Jain, chairman, IIFL, told Business Standard.

The Mumbai-based brokerage plans to keep its wealth and asset management operations in Singapore, Jain said. IIFL has applied for temporary suspension of its trading activities on the Singapore exchange.

Three of the 11 people whose jobs are being eliminated were offered the option of taking new assignments within the company, Jain said.

India Infoline is curbing operations in Singapore even as it plans to double investment banking staff in India, according to Jain, to tap demand for managing equity sales. Former Nomura Holdings banker Nipun Goel was named president of its investment bank, the brokerage said in a statement on Friday. IIFL, which had won the trading licence in mid-2010, will continue offering research on China from the city-state and focus on its wealth management business from there, spokesperson Poonam Saraogi said.

Shares of India Infoline gained 10.75 per cent to Rs 72.65 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Friday. The stock has gained 58 per cent since the end of last year, while the BSE Sensex, has advanced 13 per cent.

Private equity (PE) major Carlyle, in October, said its PE unit in Asia had accumulated nine per cent stake in IIFL, without disclosing how much it had paid. The Washington-based buyout firm’s holding in the Indian brokerage was valued at Rs 171 crore based on its March 7 closing price, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.