TIDMASAI
RNS Number : 1486C
ASA International Group PLC
17 June 2021
ASA International Group plc May 2021 business update
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 17 June 2021 - ASA International,
('ASA International', the 'Company' or the 'Group'), one of the
world's largest international microfinance institutions, today
provides the following update of the impact of COVID-19 on its
business operations as at 31 May 2021.
-- Liquidity remains high with approximately USD 105m of
unrestricted cash and cash equivalents across the Group.
-- The pipeline of funding deals under negotiation totalled approximately USD 162m.
-- With the exception of India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and
Myanmar, all other operating companies achieved collection
efficiency of more than 90% and 7 out of 13 countries achieved
collection efficiency of more than 95%.
-- India collections decreased to 67% mainly due to lockdowns in
most states following the second wave of COVID-19 affecting the
whole country.
-- Sri Lanka collections reduced to 57% due to the implementation of new lockdowns.
-- The Philippines collections increased to 89% despite the
implementation of various regional lockdowns.
-- Collections in Myanmar increased to 67% despite the ongoing
disruptions following the military's takeover of the
Government.
-- Portfolio quality remained challenging, particularly in India
and the Philippines with benchmark PAR>30 for the Group,
including off-book loans and excluding loans overdue more than 365
days, slightly increasing to 14.0% from 13.3% in April 2021, and
PAR>90 slightly increasing to 11.6% from 10.6% in April 2021.
The Group's operating subsidiaries, excluding India, the
Philippines and Myanmar, collectively have been able to maintain
PAR>30 at 3.6%.
-- Disbursements as percentage of collections exceeded 100% in 5
countries with much lower percentages seen in India, Sri Lanka, and
Myanmar.
-- The number of clients remained around 2.5m, while Gross OLP
decreased to USD 470m (8% higher than in May 2020 and 2.4% lower
compared to April 2021), across the Group.
-- The moratoriums granted in May amounted to USD 1.3 m,
primarily related to ongoing disruption of the operations in
Myanmar .
Health impact of COVID-19 on staff and clients
-- The immediate health impact of COVID-19 on the Company's
operations remained low with only 203 of over 12,500 staff members
confirmed as infected since March 2020 , but with no deaths . Since
March 2020, confirmed infections amongst 2.5m clients increased
from 2,107 at the end of April 2021 to 4,977 as at 31 May 2021,
resulting in 56 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Of the 56
client deaths across the Group, 23 are from India, with 18 of those
deaths occurring in May 2021.
Funding
-- Unrestricted cash and cash equivalents remained high at approximately USD 105m.
-- The Company secured approximately USD 6m of new loans from
local and international lenders in May 2021.
-- The majority of the Company's USD 162m pipeline of future
wholesale loans are supported by (agreed) term sheets and/or draft
loan documentations. The terms and conditions of the remaining
loans are being negotiated with lenders.
Collection efficiency until 31 May 2021 (1, 2)
Countries Jan/21 Feb/21 Mar/21 Apr/21 May/21
------- ------- ------- -------
India 82% 84% 87% 87% 67%
Pakistan 98% 99% 99% 99% 99%
Sri Lanka 97% 90% 91% 93% 57%
The Philippines 75% 80% 85% 84% 89%
Myanmar 89% 78% 59% 55% 67%
Ghana 99% 100% 100% 100% 99%
Nigeria 95% 97% 96% 95% 94%
Sierra Leone 95% 89% 96% 93% 92%
Kenya 97% 98% 100% 100% 99%
Uganda 87% 93% 99% 100% 100%
Tanzania 99% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Rwanda 93% 91% 96% 95% 96%
Zambia 100% 100% 100% 100% 99%
----------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
(1) Collection efficiency refers to actual collections from
clients divided by expected collections for the period; since
any moratorium on the repayment of loans are only granted to
clients after the end of the month, the collection efficiency
is not affected by the grant of such moratorium.
(2) As of December 2020, the definition of collection efficiency
has been amended in view of the increased amount of overdue
collection and advance payments in various countries to: the
sum of actual regular collections, actual overdue collections
and actual advance payments divided by the sum of expected regular
collections, actual overdue collections and actual advance payments.
This also means that collections efficiency no longer can exceed
100%.
-- Collection efficiency across the Group increased or remained
broadly stable compared to the previous month in all countries,
with the exception of India and Sri Lanka .
-- Collections in India decreased to 67 % compared to the
previous month, due to the challenging environment following the
increased disruptions to operations following lockdowns in most
states, as a result of the severe second wave of COVID-19 .
-- Collections in Sri Lanka reduced to 57% due to the implementation of new lockdowns.
-- Collections improved to 89% in the Philippines despite the
imposition of various local and regional lockdowns following a
recent spike in COVID-19 cases.
-- Collections in Myanmar increased to 67% compared to the
previous month, despite disruptions to the ordinary life of
citizens caused by the military's takeover of the Government and
ongoing nation-wide protests.
Loan portfolio quality up to and including May 2021 (3, 4)
Gross OLP (in USDm) Non-overdue loans PAR>30
------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Mar/21 Apr/21 May/21 Mar/21 Apr/21 May/21 Mar/21 Apr/21 May/21
India
(total) 182 177 167 69.4% 70.0% 47.3% 25.8% 24.3% 27.8%
Pakistan 74 76 76 96.7% 96.9% 97.0% 2.8% 2.3% 1.8%
Sri Lanka 9 9 9 89.4% 89.0% 36.3% 4.9% 6.0% 7.7%
Philippines 53 54 54 76.2% 75.7% 76.8% 22.5% 21.7% 20.8%
Myanmar 31 26 24 48.9% 48.8% 58.2% 4.4% 3.1% 0.9%
Ghana 47 47 46 99.5% 99.4% 99.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%
Nigeria 33 34 32 91.5% 91.3% 90.5% 5.3% 5.3% 5.3%
Sierra
Leone 5 5 6 92.1% 91.9% 92.2% 4.6% 4.6% 4.5%
Kenya 15 16 17 84.9% 86.0% 86.9% 14.0% 13.0% 12.1%
Uganda 8 9 9 81.1% 84.9% 87.4% 18.7% 14.9% 12.4%
Tanzania 24 25 27 97.7% 97.9% 98.1% 2.1% 1.9% 1.7%
Rwanda 3 3 3 85.8% 87.4% 89.0% 10.3% 9.7% 8.9%
Zambia 1 1 1 98.4% 98.6% 98.4% 1.6% 1.4% 0.7%
Group 484 482 470 80.3% 81.1% 73.1% 14.3% 13.3% 14.0%
PAR>90 PAR>180
------------------------- -------------------------
Mar/21 Apr/21 May/21 Mar/21 Apr/21 May/21
India (total) 18.5% 18.4% 21.9% 5.9% 8.4% 12.5%
Pakistan 2.6% 2.1% 1.7% 2.1% 1.8% 1.4%
Sri Lanka 3.9% 3.6% 4.0% 2.9% 3.0% 3.1%
Philippines 3.9% 19.1% 20.1% 1.8% 2.2% 2.5%
Myanmar 3.4% 2.3% 0.6% 1.9% 1.7% 0.3%
Ghana 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2%
Nigeria 4.2% 3.9% 3.7% 3.2% 3.1% 2.8%
Sierra
Leone 3.2% 3.2% 3.2% 2.0% 1.9% 1.8%
Kenya 13.8% 12.7% 11.8% 13.5% 11.5% 11.3%
Uganda 18.4% 14.9% 12.4% 2.8% 7.3% 10.1%
Tanzania 1.9% 1.7% 1.6% 1.5% 1.5% 1.4%
Rwanda 8.4% 7.8% 7.1% 3.2% 5.0% 5.4%
Zambia 1.5% 1.3% 0.4% 0.7% 1.0% 0.2%
Group 9.3% 10.6% 11.6% 3.7% 4.6% 6.0%
(3) PAR>x is the percentage of outstanding customer loans with at
least one instalment payment overdue x days, excluding loans more
than 365 days overdue, to gross outstanding loan portfolio including
off-book loans.
(4) Gross loan portfolio includes the off-book BC and DA model, excluding
interest receivable and before deducting ECL provisions and modification
loss.
-- PAR>30 increased to 14.0% primarily due to the decreased collections for India and Sri Lanka.
-- PAR>90 increased to 11.6% for the Group primarily due to
the large amount of long-term overdue in India and the Philippines
in the absence of the granting of any further moratoriums .
-- Credit exposure of the India off-book BC portfolio of USD
42.6m is capped at 5%. The included off-book DA portfolio of USD
2.2m has no credit exposure.
Disbursements vs collections of loans until 31 May 2021 (5)
Countries Jan/21 Feb/21 Mar/21 Apr/21 May/21
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------
India 90% 104% 131% 71% 3%
Pakistan 97% 99% 99% 102% 89% (6)
Sri Lanka 95% 116% 92% 43% 17%
The Philippines 113% 101% 96% 88% 91%
Myanmar 144% 55% 71% 30% 76%
Ghana 94% 112% 118% 99% 91% (6)
Nigeria 68% 105% 109% 109% 108%
Sierra Leone 89% 109% 110% 95% 101%
Kenya 97% 113% 107% 100% 100%
Uganda 46% 99% 99% 105% 99%
Tanzania 78% 97% 102% 107% 109%
Rwanda 60% 73% 86% 95% 106%
Zambia 137% 140% 115% 107% 142%
----------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------- ----------
(5) Disbursements vs collections refers to actual loan disbursements
made to clients divided by total loans collected from clients in
the period.
(6) Slowdown in disbursements due to official EID holidays in
second week of May.
-- With the business environment continuing to gradually improve
in many countries, disbursements of new loans continued to
stabilise or increase in amount and as a percentage of weekly
collections, with the exception of India and Sri Lanka.
Development of Clients and Outstanding Loan Portfolio until 31
May 2021
Clients (in Gross OLP (in
thousands) Delta USDm) Delta
May/20- May/20- Apr/21-
May/20- Apr/21- May/21 May/21 May/21
Countries May/20 Apr/21 May/21 May/21 May/21 May/20 Apr/21 May/21 USD CC (7) USD
India 741 747 735 -1% -2% 179 177 167 -7% -10% -6%
Pakistan 423 454 462 9% 2% 59 76 76 30% 22% 1%
Sri Lanka 62 56 56 -10% -1% 10 9 9 -11% -5% -4%
The
Philippines 341 325 331 -3% 2% 53 54 54 2% -3% 0%
Myanmar 144 125 120 -17% -4% 31 26 24 -23% -10% -9%
Ghana 136 158 158 16% 0% 33 47 46 42% 42% -2%
Nigeria 242 257 253 4% -2% 25 34 32 24% 33% -6%
Sierra
Leone 32 39 40 26% 1% 3 5 6 85% 95% 3%
Kenya 86 105 109 27% 3% 13 16 17 25% 26% 4%
Uganda 98 85 86 -12% 2% 9 9 9 0% -6% 6%
Tanzania 113 137 141 25% 3% 17 25 27 59% 59% 7%
Rwanda 20 18 18 -13% -1% 3 3 3 10% 17% 5%
Zambia 3 8 9 167% 13% 0 1 1 201% 269% 4%
Total 2,442 2,514 2,518 3% 0% 436 482 470 8% 7% -2.4%
(7) Constant currency ('CC') implies conversion of local
currency results to USD with the exchange rate from the beginning
of the period.
-- With disbursements decreasing in India , Gross OLP decreased
2.4% to USD 470m in May 2021 compared to the previous month, but
ended up 8% higher than May 2020 in USD with strong growth in
Pakistan, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania of our more established
operating countries.
Selected moratoriums (8) on loan repayments until 31 May
2021
Clients under moratorium As % of
Countries Mar/21 Apr/21 May/21 Total Clients
India 0 0 0 0%
Pakistan 0 0 0 0%
Sri Lanka 0 1,321 0 0%
The Philippines 793 0 0 0%
Myanmar 63,074 60,156 55,910 47%
Ghana 0 0 0 0%
Nigeria 0 0 0 0%
Sierra Leone 0 0 0 0%
Kenya 0 0 0 0%
Uganda 0 0 0 0%
Tanzania 0 0 0 0%
Rwanda 0 0 0 0%
Zambia 0 0 0 0%
Total 63,867 61,477 55,910 2.2%
Moratorium amounts (USD
thousands)
Total May moratoriums
since as % of As % of
Countries Mar/21 Apr/21 May/21 Mar/20 OLP Total Moratoriums
India 0 0 0 15,038 0% 22%
Pakistan 0 0 0 0 0% 0%
Sri Lanka 0 16 0 2,051 0.0% 3%
The Philippines 16 0 0 27,027 0% 40%
Myanmar 1,356 1,315 1,290 12,363 5% 18%
Ghana 0 0 0 0 0% 0%
Nigeria 0 0 0 954 0% 1%
Sierra Leone 0 0 0 50 0% 0%
Kenya 0 0 0 4,841 0% 7%
Uganda 0 0 0 4,873 0% 7%
Tanzania 0 0 0 266 0% 0%
Rwanda 0 0 0 570 0% 1%
Zambia 0 0 0 0 0% 0%
Total 1,372 1,331 1,290 68,033 0.3% 100.0%
(8) Moratoriums relate to clients who have received an extension
for the payment of one or more loan instalments during the
month.
-- Moratoriums on loan repayments were granted primarily to
clients in Myanmar and amounted to USD 1.3m in total, which
represents 0.3 % of the Group's Gross OLP.
-- Moratoriums granted in Myanmar were due to disruption in
operations following the military's takeover of the Government and
ongoing nation-wide protests.
Key events after 31 May 2021
-- On 7 June 2021, ASA Tanzania received the non-deposit taking
license by the Central Bank of Tanzania, which will allow it to
proceed with applying for a full deposit taking license.
-- on 11 June 2021, the Assam Government in India announced
their intention to waive loans of microfinance clients on a limited
basis, for loans taken before 31 December 2020. Discussions remain
ongoing within the government and with the microfinance industry
association (MFIN) to determine the full extent of the waiver
program.
-- In June, (partial) lockdowns and restricted movements are
still ongoing in most of the states where ASA India is present,
which continues to impact collection efficiency.
Please note that, while the Company's operational performance
appears to gradually normalize in most countries, the risk of
additional challenges to our operations should not be
underestimated due to (i) the still relatively high infection
rates, (ii) the current lack of available vaccines in most of our
operating countries, (iii) the risk of the introduction of more
infectious COVID-19 variants in our operating countries as have
been observed in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, the
Philippines and India, and (iv) the associated disruption this may
cause to the businesses of our clients.
---
Enquiries:
ASA International Group plc
Investor Relations +31 6 2030 0139
Véronique Schyns vschyns@asa-international.com
About ASA International Group plc
ASA International is one of the world's largest international
microfinance institutions, with a strong commitment to financial
inclusion and socioeconomic progress. The company provides small,
socially responsible loans to low-income, financially underserved
entrepreneurs, predominantly women, across South Asia, South East
Asia, West and East Africa.
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