TIDMASAI
RNS Number : 2605W
ASA International Group PLC
21 December 2021
Press release
ASA International Group plc November 2021 business update
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 21 December 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 30 November 2021.
-- Liquidity remains high with approximately USD 104m of
unrestricted cash and cash equivalents across the Group.
-- The pipeline of funding deals under negotiation totalled approximately USD 202m.
-- With the exception of India and Myanmar, all other operating
companies continued to achieve collection efficiency of more than
90% and 9 countries achieved more than 95%.
-- India collections remained around 69%, as most states slowly
recover from recent lockdowns. Collection efficiency, excluding
instalments due from clients receiving the one-time loan
restructuring offered by the Reserve Bank of India ('RBI'),
remained broadly stable at 92%.
-- Sri Lanka collections remained stable at 92%, following the end of nationwide lockdowns.
-- Collections in Myanmar improved to 75% from 68% in October,
despite the partial lockdown imposed by the local government.
-- Uganda collections improved to 98% from 94% in October, with
fewer local lockdowns and travel restrictions across the
country.
-- Portfolio quality remained challenging, particularly in
India. However, the benchmark PAR>30 for the Group, including
off-book loans and excluding loans overdue more than 365 days,
improved to 10.1% from 11.8% in October, and PAR>90 improved to
7.2% from 8.6% in October.
-- Excluding all loans which have been overdue for more than 180
days and, as a result, have been fully provided for, PAR>30
improved from 4.8% in October to 4.4%.
-- The Group's operating subsidiaries, excluding India, the
Philippines and Myanmar, collectively have been able to reduce
PAR>30 to 1.7%.
-- Disbursements as percentage of collections exceeded 100% in 9
countries with lower, though improved, percentages seen in India,
Philippines, and Myanmar, as clients' businesses recover following
prolonged market disruptions due to high Covid-19 infection rates,
which caused, amongst others, lockdowns and other Covid-19 related
restrictions.
-- The number of clients remained around 2.5m, while Gross OLP
increased to USD 450m (2% higher than in Oct ober 2021 and 2%
higher than in November 2020).
-- The moratoriums granted in No vember amounted to USD 32.6 m,
primarily due to the loan restructuring of certain distressed
clients in India as per the RBI guidelines.
Health impact of COVID-19 on staff and clients
-- Since March 2020, the number of staff members confirmed as
infected by Covid-19 increased to 446 of over 12,800 staff , with
two deaths . Confirmed infections amongst 2.5m clients increased to
20,395 from 19,458 in the previous month, resulting in 679 deaths
since the start of the pandemic. Of the 679 client deaths across
the Group, 451 are from Myanmar, with no deaths occurring in
November 2021.
Funding
-- Unrestricted cash and cash equivalents remained high at approximately USD 104m.
-- The Company secured approximately USD 13m of new loans from
local and international lenders in November 2021.
-- The majority of the Company's USD 202m pipeline of future
wholesale loans are supported by (agreed) term sheets and/or draft
loan documentation. The terms and conditions of the remaining loans
are being negotiated with lenders.
Collection efficiency until 30 November 2021 (1, 2)
Countries Jan/21 Feb/21 Mar/21 Apr/21 May/21 Jun/21 Jul/21 Aug/21 Sep/21 Oct/21 Nov/21
------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
India 82% 84% 87% 87% 67% 55% 58% 60% 64% 70% 69%
Pakistan 98% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99%
Sri Lanka 97% 90% 91% 93% 57% 76%(3) 76% 80%(3) Nil(3) 91% 92%
The Philippines 75% 80% 85% 84% 89% 99% 100% 99% 96% 97% 97%
Myanmar 89% 78% 59% 55% 67% 70% 64%(4) Nil(5) 55%(6) 68%(6) 75%(6)
Ghana 99% 100% 100% 100% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% 100% 99%
Nigeria 95% 97% 96% 95% 94% 96% 96% 96% 95% 96% 97%
Sierra Leone 95% 89% 96% 93% 92% 94% 93% 92% 91% 93% 92%
Kenya 97% 98% 100% 100% 99% 99% 99% 99% 100% 100% 100%
Uganda 87% 93% 99% 100% 100% 95% 83% 84% 89% 94% 98%
Tanzania 99% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Rwanda 93% 91% 96% 95% 96% 96% 96% 94% 96% 97% 97%
Zambia 100% 100% 100% 100% 99% 100% 100% 99% 100% 99% 99%
----------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
(1) Collection efficiency refers to actual collections from
clients divided by realizable collections for the period.
(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 realizable
regular collections, actual overdue collections and actual advance
payments. This also means that collection efficiency no longer
can exceed 100%.
(3) The collection efficiency for 1-15 June 2021, 20-31 August
2021, and 1-30 September is nil due to the lockdowns in Sri
Lanka. Only the collection efficiency for 16-30 June 2021 and
1-19 August 2021 is provided.
(4) Collection efficiency for 1-16 July 2021. The collection
efficiency for 17-31 July is nil due to the holiday from 17
July to 1 August 2021, announced by the Myanmar Government,
so only the collection efficiency for 1-16 July 2021 is provided.
(5) Collection efficiency for August 2021 is nil due to the
stay-at-home policy from 1 August to 24 September 2021, announced
by the Myanmar Government.
(6) Collection for September, October and November 2021 is
only from clients who opted to repay instalments despite the
ongoing lockdowns.
-- Collection efficiency across the Group increased or remained
broadly stable compared to the previous month in all countries
.
-- Collections in India remained around 69 %, as clients'
businesses continue to slowly recover from the impact of recent
lockdowns in most states. Collection efficiency, excluding
instalments due from clients receiving the one-time loan
restructuring, increased to 92%.
-- Collection efficiency, including regular and overdue
collections as well as advance payments, amounts to 92% as a
percentage of the regular, realizable collections, including
advance payments. The substantial difference is due to the Group's
policy that any loan instalment paid is first credited against the
oldest outstanding amount overdue. This has an adverse impact on
India's monthly collection efficiency, which is further aggravated
by the relatively long duration of the loans disbursed in
India.
-- Collections in Sri Lanka remained stable at 92%, following the end of nation-wide lockdowns.
-- Myanmar collections improved to 75%, despite the partial lockdown imposed by the government.
-- In Uganda collections improved to 98%, with fewer lockdowns and travel restrictions in place.
Loan portfolio quality up to and including November 2021 (7, 8,
9)
Gross OLP (in USDm) Non-overdue loans PAR>30 less PAR>180
------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Sep/21 Oct/21 Nov/21 Sep/21 Oct/21 Nov/21 Sep/21 Oct/21 Nov/21
India
(total) 132 125 125 56.9% 55.7% 57.7% 13.9% 13.3% 12.6%
Pakistan 74 76 77 98.5% 99.6% 99.7% 0.3% 0.2% 0.2%
Sri Lanka 8 8 8 79.4% 81.1% 82.5% 8.8% 6.4% 4.3%
Philippines 54 55 56 76.4% 77.7% 79.1% 2.2% 2.4% 2.1%
Myanmar 20 20 20 89.8% 98.6% 98.6% 0.3% 0.4% 0.4%
Ghana 46 47 49 99.1% 99.1% 99.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%
Nigeria 35 37 41 89.9% 90.5% 90.9% 3.0% 2.9% 2.6%
Sierra
Leone 7 7 7 80.2% 79.7% 78.8% 2.7% 3.2% 4.9%
Kenya 18 19 19 90.8% 91.1% 91.6% 0.5% 0.5% 0.4%
Uganda 9 10 10 79.6% 85.5% 89.1% 7.2% 5.5% 3.8%
Tanzania 29 31 33 98.1% 98.3% 98.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%
Rwanda 3 3 3 88.7% 90.9% 92.7% 2.9% 2.8% 2.4%
Zambia 1 2 2 98.9% 97.7% 98.0% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5%
Group 437 440 450 80.8% 82.0% 83.2% 5.2% 4.8% 4.4%
PAR>30 PAR>90 PAR>180
------------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Sep/21 Oct/21 Nov/21 Sep/21 Oct/21 Nov/21 Sep/21 Oct/21 Nov/21
India
(total) 33.1% 29.4% 25.2% 23.2% 20.3% 16.5% 19.2% 16.0% 12.6%
Pakistan 0.8% 0.3% 0.3% 0.7% 0.2% 0.2% 0.5% 0.1% 0.0%
Sri Lanka 11.6% 9.1% 6.8% 7.0% 6.7% 5.2% 2.8% 2.8% 2.5%
Philippines 18.9% 18.2% 17.2% 17.3% 16.6% 16.0% 16.7% 15.8% 15.1%
Myanmar 1.0% 1.0% 1.0% 0.9% 0.8% 0.7% 0.7% 0.6% 0.5%
Ghana 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1%
Nigeria 4.6% 4.5% 4.2% 3.2% 2.9% 2.8% 1.6% 1.6% 1.6%
Sierra
Leone 4.4% 5.1% 6.8% 2.8% 3.2% 3.5% 1.8% 1.9% 1.9%
Kenya 3.1% 1.6% 1.0% 2.8% 1.3% 0.8% 2.6% 1.1% 0.6%
Uganda 16.3% 10.6% 5.6% 9.9% 7.1% 4.4% 9.1% 5.1% 1.8%
Tanzania 0.8% 0.6% 0.5% 0.7% 0.5% 0.4% 0.5% 0.3% 0.2%
Rwanda 8.1% 6.4% 4.7% 6.5% 4.6% 3.5% 5.2% 3.6% 2.3%
Zambia 1.0% 0.8% 0.7% 0.9% 0.4% 0.4% 0.6% 0.3% 0.2%
Group 13.8% 11.8% 10.1% 10.2% 8.6% 7.2% 8.6% 7.0% 5.7%
(7) Gross OLP includes the off-book BC and DA model, excluding interest
receivable and before deducting ECL provisions and modification loss.
(8) 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 OLP including off-book loans. Loans
overdue more than 365 days now comprise 4% of the Gross OLP
(9) The table "PAR>30 less PAR>180" shows the percentage of outstanding
client loans with a PAR greater than 30 days, less those loans which
have been fully provided for.
-- PAR>30 for the Group improved to 10.1%, primarily due to
the marginal improvements in India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Uganda,
and Rwanda as well as moratoriums granted in India and Myanmar.
-- Credit exposure of the India off-book BC portfolio of USD
33.4m is capped at 5%. The included off-book DA portfolio of USD
1.9m has no credit exposure.
Disbursements vs collections of loans until 30 November 2021
(10)
Countries Jan/21 Feb/21 Mar/21 Apr/21 May/21 Jun/21 Jul/21 Aug/21 Sep/21 Oct/21 Nov/21
------- ------- ------- ------- -------- ------- ------- -------- -------- -------
India 90% 104% 131% 71% 3% 5% 25% 36% 52% 39% 85%
Pakistan 97% 99% 99% 102% 89%(11) 102% 98% 103% 100% 100% 98%
Sri Lanka 95% 116% 92% 43% 17% 0% 56% 87% Nil(13) 86% 100%
The
Philippines 113% 101% 96% 88% 91% 88% 87% 91% 89% 90% 90%
Myanmar 144% 55% 71% 30% 76% 87% 64% Nil(12) 37% 73% 90%
Ghana 94% 112% 118% 99% 91%(11) 99% 85% 112% 120% 111% 114%
Nigeria 68% 105% 109% 109% 108% 109% 103% 104% 110% 128% 134%
Sierra Leone 89% 109% 110% 95% 101% 118% 119% 133% 124% 112% 112%
Kenya 97% 113% 107% 100% 100% 93% 107% 97% 100% 96% 103%
Uganda 46% 99% 99% 105% 99% 53% 60% 93% 109% 115% 121%
Tanzania 78% 97% 102% 107% 109% 96% 86% 91% 100% 107% 109%
Rwanda 60% 73% 86% 95% 106% 81% 61% 95% 102% 101% 105%
Zambia 137% 140% 115% 107% 142% 170% 103% 102% 102% 110% 111%
-------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------- ------- ------- -------- -------- ------- -------
(10) Disbursements vs collections refers to actual loan disbursements
made to clients divided by total loans collected from clients in
the period.
(11) Slowdown in disbursements due to official EID holidays in
second week of May.
(12) Disbursements vs collections for August is nil due to the
stay-at-home policy announced by the Myanmar Government.
(13) Disbursements vs collections for September is nil due the
nationwide lockdowns.
-- With the business environment continuing to gradually improve
in many countries, disbursements of new loans continued to
stabilise or increase as a percentage of weekly collections.
Development of Clients and Outstanding Loan Portfolio until 30
Nove mber 2021
Clients (in Gross OLP (in
thousands) Delta USDm) Delta
Nov/20-Nov/21 Nov/20-Nov/21 Oct/21-Nov/21
Countries Nov/20 Oct/21 Nov/21 Nov/20-Nov/21 Oct/21-Nov/21 Nov/20 Oct/21 Nov/21 USD CC (14) USD
India 713 645 629 -12% -2% 166 125 125 -25% -24% 0%
Pakistan 416 493 501 20% 2% 62 76 77 23% 36% 1%
Sri Lanka 55 52 52 -6% 0% 9 8 8 -7% 2% 2%
The
Philippines 292 349 352 21% 1% 49 55 56 13% 18% 1%
Myanmar 128 114 113 -12% -1% 30 20 20 -34% -9% 0%
Ghana 158 153 158 0% 4% 41 47 49 18% 24% 3%
Nigeria 253 256 265 5% 4% 34 37 41 20% 30% 9%
Sierra
Leone 37 44 45 24% 2% 4 7 7 57% 74% 0%
Kenya 90 124 129 44% 4% 13 19 19 47% 50% 4%
Uganda 82 86 91 11% 6% 8 10 10 23% 19% 6%
Tanzania 116 166 172 47% 3% 21 31 33 57% 56% 7%
Rwanda 19 17 18 -8% 2% 3 3 3 21% 25% 4%
Zambia 5 13 14 153% 10% 0.4 2 2 364% 294% 11%
Total 2,364 2,511 2,539 7% 1.1% 442 440 450 2% 8% 2%
(14) Constant currency ('CC') implies conversion of local
currency results to USD with the exchange rate from the beginning
of the period.
-- With disbursements as percentage of collections stabilising
or exceeding 100% in many countries , Gross
OLP increased to USD 450m (2% higher than in October 2021 and 2% higher than in November 2020).
Selected moratoriums (15) on loan repayments until 30 November
2021
Clients under moratorium
(in thousands)
As % of Total
Countries Sep/21 Oct/21 Nov/21 Clients
India 205 205 181 29%
Pakistan 0 0 0 0%
Sri Lanka 3 5 1 2%
The Philippines 0 0 0 0%
Myanmar 58 54 49 44%
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 266 264 232 9%
Moratorium amounts (USD
thousands)
November
Moratoriums As % of Total
Countries Sep/21 Oct/21 Nov/21 as % of OLP Moratoriums
India 37,590 34,958 31,647 25% 97%
Pakistan 0 0 0 0% 0%
Sri Lanka 28 71 12 0.1% 0.04%
The Philippines 0 0 0 0% 0%
Myanmar 1,242 1,003 896 4% 3%
Ghana 0 0 0 0% 0%
Nigeria 0 0 0 0% 0%
Sierra Leone 0 0 0 0% 0%
Kenya 0 0 0 0% 0%
Uganda 0 0 0 0% 0%
Tanzania 0 0 0 0% 0%
Rwanda 0 0 0 0% 0%
Zambia 0 0 0 0% 0%
Total 38,860 36,033 32,556 7% 100%
(15) 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 relate primarily to
approximately 30% of clients in India, who accepted to benefit from
the one-time debt restructuring scheme established by the RBI. See
RBI Covid-19 Restructuring Guidelines .
-- Moratoriums granted in Sri Lanka and Myanmar were due to
disruption in operations following partial lockdowns.
-- The moratorium amount across the Group was USD 32.6m, which
represents 7 % of the Group's Gross OLP.
Key events in November and December 2021
-- In August 2021, ASA India and other MFIs signed the 'Assam
Microfinance Incentive and Relief Scheme 2021', a MoU with the
government of the State of Assam, with the objective to give
incentives and relief to borrowers, who availed small loans from
different MFIs in Assam. As off 28 November 2021, the first phase
of the incentive programme has started.
-- On the evening of 16 December 2021 Typhoon Rai (Odette) hit
the Philippines, a strong typhoon, affecting the Visayas and
Mindanao archipelagos, and some part of the Luzon archipelago.
Pagasa Philippines reports that all 53 branches in Visayas and 30
branches in Mindanao have been affected. The exact number of
damaged branches, affected staff and borrowers are yet to be
determined. All necessary measures as per the disaster policy are
being executed.
-- Other than the existing partial lockdown and curfews in
Myanmar, Uganda and Rwanda, the Company is not aware of any further
restrictions implemented in its operating countries as a result of
the emergence of the Omicron variant up until 20 December 2021.
Please note that, while the Company's operational performance
appears to gradually normalize in most countries except for India,
Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Uganda, the risk of additional challenges to
our operations should not be underestimated, as we have recently
seen in for instance India and Myanmar, 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, Myanmar 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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