ZA Online surged another 32% in Hong Kong, bringing its monthly gain to over 88%.

Last Wednesday (21st), the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the Stablecoin Bill in its third reading to establish a licensing and regulatory regime for fiat-referenced stablecoins (FRS) issuers.

Christopher Hui, Hong Kong's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, said that the government aims to implement the regime within this year and is drafting regulatory guidelines. The main use case for stablecoins will be cross-border payments, and the government is open to establishing mutual recognition mechanisms with overseas financial regulators.

According to a report issued by UBS this Tuesday (27th), ZA Online's share price has risen a cumulative 29% in the five trading days following the passage of the stablecoin law by the Legislative Council. The broker believed that the bill has removed obstacles for the public issuance of stablecoins.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has launched a regulatory "sandbox" for stablecoin issuers, and RD InnoTech, a company indirectly owned bZA OnlineNE with an 8.7% stake, is one of the three participating institutions.

UBS kept a Neutral ratingZA OnlineLINE, with a target price of HKD13.1.

ZA Online reported strong 13% YoY growth in total for 4M25 premiums, according to a research report issued by DBS Group Research. The broker expected the growth momentum to continue into FY2025.

However, the fintech subsidiary's losses narrowed at a slower pace than expected. Therefore, DBS Group Research lowered its FY2025-FY2026 profit forecasts slightly by 1.8%/ 3.4% each, and cut its target price from $21.2 to $20, with rating reiterated at Buy.