REG - ASA Intnl. Grp PLC - ASA International January 2022 business update
24/02/2022 07:18
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RNS Number : 6312C ASA International Group PLC 24 February 2022
ASA International Group plc January 2022 business update
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 24 February 2022 - 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 January 2022.
· Liquidity remains high with approximately USD 110m of unrestricted
cash and cash equivalents across the Group.
· The pipeline of funding deals under negotiation totalled
approximately USD 184m, down by USD 3m since December partly due to USD 19m of
loans secured in January.
· 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 slightly improved to 76% from 74%, despite a
lockdown in several districts of West Bengal in January. Collection
efficiency, excluding instalments due from clients receiving the one-time loan
restructuring offered by the Reserve Bank of India ('RBI'), increased to 101%.
· Collections in Myanmar remained at 78%, despite the partial lockdown
imposed by the local government.
· The benchmark PAR>30 for the Group, including off-book loans and
excluding loans overdue more than 365 days, improved to 6.4% from 7.3%, and
PAR>90 improved to 4.0% from 4.6%.
· The Group's operating subsidiaries, excluding India, the Philippines
and Myanmar, collectively have been able to maintain PAR>30 at 1.7%.
· Excluding all loans which have been overdue for more than 180 days
and, as a result, have been fully provided for, PAR>30 slightly improved to
3.8% from 4.1%.
· Disbursements as percentage of collections exceeded 100% in one
country. The decreasing percentages seen in India, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Nigeria,
Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Zambia were primarily due to the seasonal slowdown of
disbursements in January.
· With the number of clients stable at 2.4m (slightly lower than in
December and 1.7% lower than in January 2021), and with disbursements as
percentage of collections decreasing, Gross OLP decreased to USD 425m (1%
lower than in December 2021 and 5% lower than in January 2021).
· The moratorium amount decreased to USD 26.2m, and is composed of the
restructured loans of certain distressed clients in India as per the RBI
guidelines. No other country operations granted moratoriums.
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 518 of over 12,800 staff, with two deaths. Confirmed
infections amongst our 2.4m clients increased to 21,659 from 20,748 in the
previous month, resulting in 690 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Of
the 690 client deaths across the Group, 451 took place in Myanmar, with no
deaths occurring in January 2022.
Funding
· Unrestricted cash and cash equivalents remained high at approximately
USD 110m.
· The majority of the Company's USD 184m 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. The marginal drop in the funding pipeline was partially caused by the
relatively large amount (USD 19m) of new loans secured from local and
international lenders in January.
Collection efficiency until 31 January 2022((1, 2))
Countries Jul/21 Aug/21 Sep/21 Oct/21 Nov/21 Dec/21 Jan/22
India 58% 60% 64% 70% 69% 74% 76%
Pakistan 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99% 99%
Sri Lanka 76% 80%((3)) Nil((3)) 91% 92% 94% 93%
The Philippines 100% 99% 96% 97% 97% 97% 98%
Myanmar 64%((4)) Nil((5)) 55%((6)) 68%((6)) 75%((6)) 78%((6)) 78%((6))
Ghana 99% 99% 99% 100% 99% 99% 99%
Nigeria 96% 96% 95% 96% 97% 96% 95%
Sierra Leone 93% 92% 91% 93% 92% 92% 92%
Kenya 99% 99% 100% 100% 100% 100% 99%
Uganda 83% 84% 89% 94% 98% 100% 100%
Tanzania 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Rwanda 96% 94% 96% 97% 97% 97% 97%
Zambia 100% 99% 100% 99% 99% 99% 100%
((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 20-31 August 2021, and 1-29 September 2021
is nil due to the lockdowns in Sri Lanka. Only the collection efficiency for
1-19 August 2021, and 30 September 2021 is provided.
((4)) Collection efficiency is 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)) Collections are impacted by the ongoing lockdowns.
· Collection efficiency across the Group increased or remained broadly
stable compared to the previous month in all countries.
· Collections in India slightly improved to 76%, despite a lockdown in
several districts of West Bengal in January. Collection efficiency, excluding
instalments due from clients receiving the one-time loan restructuring,
increased to 101%.
· Collection efficiency in India, including regular and overdue
collections as well as advance payments, improved to 100% 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.
This adjusted collection efficiency metric illustrates that most clients in
India continue to make payments on their loans due.
· Myanmar collections remained at 78%, despite the partial lockdown
imposed by the government.
Loan portfolio quality up to and including January 2022((7, 8, 9) )
Gross OLP (in USDm) Non-overdue loans PAR>30 less PAR>180
Nov/21 Dec/21 Jan/22 Nov/21 Dec/21 Jan/22 Nov/21 Dec/21 Jan/22
India (total) 125 113 111 57.7% 67.3% 68.8% 12.6% 12.3% 11.1%
Pakistan 77 79 81 99.7% 99.7% 99.7% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2%
Sri Lanka 8 8 8 82.5% 87.2% 85.3% 4.3% 3.6% 3.9%
Philippines 56 47 46 79.1% 95.7% 94.9% 2.1% 2.3% 2.0%
Myanmar 20 20 21 98.6% 97.8% 64.3% 0.4% 0.6% 1.0%
Ghana 49 49 46 99.2% 99.3% 99.2% 0.3% 0.2% 0.3%
Nigeria 41 40 37 90.9% 92.7% 90.9% 2.6% 2.8% 3.4%
Sierra Leone 7 7 7 78.8% 87.4% 72.3% 4.9% 5.6% 6.5%
Kenya 19 17 17 91.6% 98.6% 98.6% 0.4% 0.5% 0.5%
Uganda 10 10 10 89.1% 89.8% 90.7% 3.8% 3.1% 1.9%
Tanzania 33 35 36 98.4% 99.1% 99.1% 0.3% 0.2% 0.2%
Rwanda 3 3 3 92.7% 92.9% 92.6% 2.4% 2.6% 3.0%
Zambia 2 2 2 98.4% 98.2% 98.2% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5%
Group 449 429 425 83.2% 89.1% 87.5% 4.4% 4.1% 3.8%
( )
PAR>30 PAR>90 PAR>180
Nov/21 Dec/21 Jan/22 Nov/21 Dec/21 Jan/22 Nov/21 Dec/21 Jan/22
India (total) 25.2% 22.8% 19.3% 16.5% 14.1% 11.6% 12.6% 10.5% 8.2%
Pakistan 0.3% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Sri Lanka 6.8% 6.0% 6.6% 5.2% 4.0% 4.0% 2.5% 2.5% 2.8%
Philippines 17.2% 2.5% 2.5% 16.0% 1.5% 1.9% 15.1% 0.3% 0.6%
Myanmar 1.0% 1.1% 1.6% 0.7% 0.7% 1.0% 0.5% 0.5% 0.6%
Ghana 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1%
Nigeria 4.2% 4.6% 5.4% 2.8% 3.1% 3.6% 1.6% 1.8% 2.0%
Sierra Leone 6.8% 7.5% 8.7% 3.5% 4.0% 5.5% 1.9% 1.9% 2.2%
Kenya 1.0% 1.1% 1.0% 0.8% 0.8% 0.8% 0.6% 0.5% 0.5%
Uganda 5.6% 3.8% 2.9% 4.4% 3.4% 2.8% 1.8% 0.7% 0.9%
Tanzania 0.5% 0.5% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2% 0.3% 0.3%
Rwanda 4.7% 4.5% 4.8% 3.5% 3.2% 3.2% 2.3% 1.9% 1.8%
Zambia 0.7% 0.7% 0.8% 0.4% 0.5% 0.5% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2%
Group 10.1% 7.3% 6.4% 7.2% 4.6% 4.0% 5.7% 3.1% 2.6%
( )
((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 2% 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 6.4%, primarily due to the
improvements in India and Uganda and movement of a component of overdue that
is more than 365 days.
· Credit exposure of the India off-book BC portfolio of USD 33.7m is
capped at 5%. The included off-book DA portfolio of USD 1.7m has no credit
exposure.
Disbursements vs collections of loans until 31 January 2022((10))
Countries Jul/21 Aug/21 Sep/21 Oct/21 Nov/21 Dec/21 Jan/22
India 25% 36% 52% 39% 85% 88% 78%
Pakistan 98% 103% 100% 100% 98% 100% 100%
Sri Lanka 56% 87% Nil((12)) 86% 100% 113% 70%
The Philippines 87% 91% 89% 90% 90% 81% 80%
Myanmar 64% Nil((11)) 37% 73% 90% 95% 99%
Ghana 85% 112% 120% 111% 114% 108% 74%
Nigeria 103% 104% 110% 128% 134% 93% 71%
Sierra Leone 119% 133% 124% 112% 112% 110% 97%
Kenya 107% 97% 100% 96% 103% 55% 95%
Uganda 60% 93% 109% 115% 121% 69% 81%
Tanzania 86% 91% 100% 107% 109% 107% 114%
Rwanda 61% 95% 102% 101% 105% 98% 65%
Zambia 103% 102% 102% 110% 111% 109% 76%
((10)) Disbursements vs collections refers to actual loan disbursements made
to clients divided by total loans collected from clients in the period.
((11)) Disbursements vs collections for August is nil due to the stay-at-home
policy announced by the Myanmar Government.
((12)) Disbursements vs collections for September is nil due the nationwide
lockdowns.
· Due to the seasonal slowdown for disbursement in January,
disbursements of new loans decreased or remained stable as a percentage of
weekly collections in nine countries.
Development of Clients and Outstanding Loan Portfolio( )until 31 January 2022
Clients (in thousands) Delta Gross OLP (in USDm) Delta
Countries Jan/21 Dec/21 Jan/22 Jan/21-Jan/22 Dec/21-Jan/22 Jan/21 Dec/21 Jan/22 Jan/21-Jan/22 USD Jan/21-Jan/22 CC ((13)) Dec/21-Jan/22 USD
India 719 541 521 -28% -4% 165 113 111 -33% -31% -2%
Pakistan 426 512 520 22% 2% 66 79 81 24% 36% 3%
Sri Lanka 56 53 52 -7% -2% 9 8 8 -10% -4% -4%
The Philippines 305 290 290 -5% 0% 49 47 46 -6% 0% -1%
Myanmar 132 111 112 -15% 1% 33 20 21 -37% -16% 2%
Ghana 153 159 158 3% 0% 43 49 46 8% 16% -6%
Nigeria 253 254 246 -3% -3% 31 40 37 19% 30% -7%
Sierra Leone 37 44 43 17% -2% 4 7 7 49% 68% -5%
Kenya 95 119 118 24% -1% 13 17 17 31% 35% 3%
Uganda 80 92 92 15% 0% 7 10 10 32% 26% 0%
Tanzania 125 174 179 43% 3% 22 35 36 65% 64% 3%
Rwanda 19 18 18 -3% 1% 3 3 3 15% 21% -4%
Zambia 6 15 15 161% 3% 0.5 2 2 340% 271% 1%
Total 2,404 2,382 2,364 -1.7% -0.7% 445 429 425 -5% 2% -1%
( )
((13)) Constant currency ('CC') implies conversion of local currency results
to USD with the exchange rate from the beginning of the period.
· With the number of clients stable at 2.4m, and disbursements as
percentage of collections decreasing, Gross OLP decreased to USD 425m (1%
lower than in December 2021 and 5% lower than in January 2021).
Selected moratoriums((14)) on loan repayments until 31 January 2022
Clients under moratorium (in thousands)
Countries Nov/21 Dec/21 Jan/22 As % of Total Clients
India 205 205 205 39%
Pakistan 0 0 0 0%
Sri Lanka 1 0 0 0%
The Philippines 0 0 0 0%
Myanmar 49 44 0 0%
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 255 249 205 9%
Moratorium amounts (USD thousands)
Countries Nov/21 Dec/21 Jan/22 January Moratoriums as % of OLP As % of Total Moratoriums
India 31,765 28,600 26,178 24% 100%
Pakistan 0 0 0 0% 0%
Sri Lanka 12 0 0 0% 0%
The Philippines 0 0 0 0% 0%
Myanmar 903 779 0 0% 0%
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 32,680 29,379 26,178 6% 100%
( )
((14)) 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 39%
of clients in India, who accepted to benefit from the one-time debt
restructuring scheme established by the RBI and confirmed in September 2021.
See RBI Covid-19 Restructuring Guidelines
(https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=12086&Mode=0) .
· The moratorium amount across the Group decreased to USD 26.2m, which
represents 6% of the Group's Gross OLP.
Key events in February 2022
· Other than the existing partial lockdown and curfews in Myanmar 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 15 February 2022.
Please note that, while the Company's operational performance appears to
gradually normalize in most countries except for India and Myanmar, 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 as well as vaccine hesitancy in most of our operating
countries, (iii) the risk of the introduction of more infectious COVID-19
variants in our operating countries, 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
(mailto: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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