Aspial’s (MaxiCash) 2029 re-tap offers an attractive 5.10% yield amid recovering gold prices

Aspial Lifestyle Limited (Aspial) plans to issue bonds at a final price guidance (FPG) of 5.10% and a tap price of 100.000. These bonds will be merged with its existing 2029 bonds (MSFSSP 5.100% 29Oct2029 Corp (SGD)), and will therefore share the same maturity date of 29 October 2029 (i.e. around 3.5 years).

Both the issuer and these bonds are unrated. Proceeds from this issuance will be used for general corporate purposes. This is in line with Aspial’s recent 1Q26 business update, in which it shared it was exploring various fund-raising options, including debt financing.

Related article: Aspial Lifestyle announces exchange offer for its 2027 bonds

Financial highlights – FY25 & 1Q26

(Unless otherwise stated: Data is as of FY25 [31 December 2025], or 1Q26 [31 March 2026]; dollar values [$] are in SGD terms; and percentage changes are year-on-year [y/y].)

Aspial delivered a strong performance in FY25, with revenue rising +41% y/y from $588m in FY24 to $830m in FY25. This strong top-line growth drove a meaningful improvement in profitability, with estimated EBIT up +70% to $135m. Profits before tax (PBT) climbed +127%, while profits after tax similarly rose +142% y/y to $84m. Encouragingly, both EBIT margins (from 13.5% to 16.3%) and net margins (from 5.9% to 10.2%) improved, suggesting Aspial managed to scale its business in a cost-effective manner.

Growth was broad-based across the business. First, Retail – typically its largest core segment - revenues grew +42% to $727m. Its other segments ‘Pawnbroking’ (+31%*) and ‘Secured Lending’ (+92%) also posted double-digit growth y/y. Overall, the steady increase in gold prices in 2025 likely supported demand for Aspial’s retail gold products, while also driving strong growth in its Pawnbroking loan book.

(Note: Including inter-segment revenues, Pawnbroking revenues grew +16% to $149m.)

Recently, Aspial released an optimistic voluntary business update for 1Q26. Management revealed that 1Q26 revenues increased +48% to $247m, while PBT grew +140% to $40m. They attributed this to ‘sustained strong demand’ for its products and services, while highlighting that its Malaysian operations continued to record healthy growth.

Guidance and outlook for 1H26

Management had previously guided for a ‘substantially stronger performance’ in 1H26, citing ‘strong operating momentum’. In the recent 1Q26 business update, management maintained positive guidance for PBT growth in 1H26 versus 1H25, although it omitted the word ‘substantially’ in its latest commentary. Interestingly, management also noted that market and commodity volatilities could affect margins. To us, management guidance remains broadly optimistic despite some minor changes in phrasing.

We note that spot gold prices saw a large dip in March 2026 amid a repricing of global interest rates following the US-Iran war, but have since recovered some of these losses, and were now sitting at $4,800/oz at the time of writing. This recovery could overall be positive for Aspial, which typically benefits from stronger retail sales and larger loan books when gold prices increase. More generally, we like that Aspial continues to deliver strong underlying business growth, while its Malaysian expansion remains a promising medium-term growth driver.

Steady credit profile

Aspial’s gross borrowings, comprising bank loans and medium-term notes, rose +21% to $765m. Nonetheless, its asset base also grew substantially (+29% to $1,599m), meaning its gross-borrowings-to-total-assets ratio actually declined from 0.51x to 0.48x. As before, we are not overly concerned by the increase in its gross borrowings, as this appears to largely reflect Aspial’s business growth, especially in the Pawnbroking segment, where a larger loan book requires more funding.

Aspial’s cash and bank balances rose from $43m in end-2024 to $86m in end-2025, though this largely reflected the increased debt taken on in 2025 itself (i.e. positive financing cashflows). Investing cashflows turned more negative (-$31m) due to large purchases of property, plant, and equipment, likely linked to its business expansion in Malaysia. Meanwhile, operating cashflows improved but remained negative, due to larger receivables recorded on its larger loan book. Nonetheless, we think Aspial retains solid access to short-term funding (via banks) for its business needs as required. We think its cashflows continue to show an improving trend, and do not pose major issues for the company in the coming quarters.

Bond comparison

Overall, Aspial remains an issuer still benefiting from strong underlying business momentum and a steady credit profile. We think this issuance / re-tap looks attractive for bond investors seeking SGD yields of around 5%.

This latest issuance (re-tap) comes with a decent issue price of 100.000, making it more attractive even compared to its own October 2029 bonds (indicative bid: 100.250). Furthermore, this re-tap provides a sizeable yield pickup over its closest peer bonds issued by MoneyMax, which are trading at yields of around 4.24% (Table 1).

We include other high-yielding SGD bonds, though the issuers operate in different segments from Aspial (i.e. not related to gold / pawnbroking). Broadly speaking, this latest retap of 5.1% represents among the highest yields within the SGD non-perpetuals space. Some examples are listed in Table 1 below.

• Perennial Holdings (healthcare real estate) and Giti Tire (tyre company) are both unlisted and unrated, giving investors generally less visibility into their financials compared to Aspial, which is listed and mandatorily discloses its financial statements once every 6 months.
• Thakral Corporation and Thomson Medical Group are unrated, but are both listed, giving investors similar levels of visibility into each company’s financials (i.e. every 6 months). Nonetheless, this re-tap offers decent yield pickups over those companies, especially with the TMG 2029 bonds, which have the exact same maturity date of 29 October 2029.

Table 1: Bond comparison

Declaration: For specific disclosure, at the time of publication of this report, IFPL (via its connected and associated entities) holds positions in TMGSP 4.650% 29Oct2029 Corp (SGD). The analyst who produced this report holds NIL positions in the abovementioned securities. This research report was prepared with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. iFAST Financial Pte Ltd does not rely exclusively on AI for content generation; the content of this report – including all investment theses, ratings, price targets and conclusions – has been independently reviewed and verified by the research analyst(s) to ensure accuracy and professional integrity.