Global fintech firm Hecto Financial posted its highest-ever sales and operating profit in 2025. The company plans to step up global expansion on the back of steady growth.

Hecto Financial announced its 2025 results on March 12 through a notice convening a shareholder meeting. A filing showed the company posted consolidated revenue of 187.4 billion won and operating profit of 15.6 billion won in 2025. That was up 17.7 percent and 17.2 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

Last year, Hecto Financial saw balanced growth across all businesses. Revenue from its simple cash payment and payment gateway services rose 26.4 percent and 15.5 percent from a year earlier, respectively. Other revenue, including overseas settlement services, also rose 9.1 percent. It said expanding high-margin in-house membership services such as Naetongjang Payment drove the results.

Hecto Financial posted annual net profit of 8.8 billion won, down 1.7 percent from a year earlier, despite carrying out a Big Bath, a strategic recognition of large losses, on the back of record results. Big Bath is an accounting treatment that conservatively addresses potential risks to remove financial uncertainty and is unrelated to actual cash outflows. Hecto Financial said it removed risks such as impairment losses on goodwill at subsidiaries, strengthening the foundation for growth.

Agenda items for the shareholder meeting also included a plan to pay a cash dividend of 220 won per share, lifting the total dividend by about 3 percent from a year earlier. Hecto Financial announced a four-year shareholder return policy in 2024 and has been increasing its payout ratio each year. Last year it carried out a bonus issue, providing shareholders with the effect of cancelling treasury shares worth about 3.6 billion won.

This year, Hecto Financial will push ahead with its global business in earnest. It plans to set up overseas subsidiaries at global hubs to pursue stablecoin-based global payment and settlement services. It also plans to launch services targeting the overseas remittance market.

Hecto Financial is already participating as a public testnet partner for Arc, a stablecoin-focused mainnet run by USDC issuer Circle. It has also joined Circle Payment Network, or CPN, Circle's stablecoin payment network, securing cross-border settlement infrastructure using stablecoins.

CPN is a stablecoin-based payment network with participation limited to about 20 top-tier financial institutions, including major global banks and payment institutions. Hecto Financial is the only participating company from South Korea. Separately, Hecto Financial has also built a cooperation relationship with Singapore stablecoin payment company TripleA, expanding partnerships in the global stablecoin payment ecosystem.

Hecto Financial is also preparing to expand the market for investment accounts for STO investing in anticipation of more active fractional investment following legalisation of the STO market. The company has built a presence in the STO market by providing virtual account solutions to art fractional investment platforms.

Chief Executive Choi Jong-won (최종원) said the company laid the groundwork for expanding its global business last year by expanding overseas bases and building stablecoin-based payment and settlement infrastructure. He said this year will be a year in which it makes tangible business results and profit generation visible in the global market based on that foundation.

Choi said the company will lead next-generation financial services such as stablecoin-based global remittances and STO fund settlements that link digital asset payments with foreign exchange functions in line with future institutionalisation related to digital assets in South Korea. He added it will pursue a balanced approach between a profitability-focused strategy and investment in future financial infrastructure to realise sustainable growth in corporate value.