IFCA MSC scraps plans to earn commissions via Property365.com

PETALING JAYA: Business software solution company IFCA MSC Bhd has abandoned plans to earn commissions through property sales via its e-commerce business, which was in breach of property industry guidelines.
The scrapping of the plans will hurt its initial income projections from the e-commerce business.
IFCA MSC shares closed 1.5 sen, or 2.8%, lower at 52 sen on the news yesterday, with some 5.52 million units traded.
In an announcement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, IFCA MSC said that statements it made on Nov 30 2015 alluding to an income ranging from 1% to 5% from the value of each property sold through Property365.my, as well as receive a subscription fee from property developers who utilise Property365.my's services, and that its e-commerce business is expected to contribute positively to its revenue and profits in 2016 and the years thereafter were inaccurate.
"We would like to clarify that the two paragraphs is inaccurate as we were unaware at that point of time the guidelines pertaining to the sales of properties as prescribed by the Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents (BOVAEA)," it said.
"Since then we have taken the advice of BOVAEA to adhere to the guidelines pertaining to the collection of fees related to sales of properties," IFCA MSC added.
BOVAEA rules states that only registered real estate agents are eligible for a prescribed commission of between 1% and 5% of properties sold.
In its announcement yesterday, IFCA MSC said the contribution of the portal to the company's' earnings per share, since its launch, is immaterial.
The company said its e-commerce business will now be based on a subscription basis, instead of a success basis, with those subscribing and using its platform harged a fixed platform fee which varies from project to project, on a tiered basis.
It said it is working closely with registered real estate agencies as its strategic partners to ensure that its business operations and collection of income derived from sales transactions are in line with the regulations of BOVAEA.
IFCA MSC said its intent to leverage on and drive Property365.my, as a core business model remains.