REG - ASA Intnl. Grp PLC - December 2022 Quarterly Business Update

ASA InternationalAnnouncement

24/02/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 9127Q  ASA International Group PLC  24 February 2023

Press Release

 

ASA International Group plc December 2022 quarterly business update

 

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 24 February 2023 - ASA International, ('ASA
International', the 'Company' or the 'Group'), one of the world's largest
international microfinance institutions, today provides the following update
on its business operations as at 31 December 2022 compared to 31 October 2022.

·    With the exception of India, all other operating subsidiaries achieved
collection efficiency of more than 90% with 9 countries achieving more than
95%.

·    India collections improved from 83% in October to 87% in December.
Collection efficiency, including regular and overdue collections as well as
advance payments, as a percentage of the regular, realisable collections,
including advance payments, increased from 98% in October to 118% in December.

·    PAR>30 for the Group, including off-book loans and excluding loans
overdue more than 365 days, decreased from 6.7% in October to 5.9% in
December, primarily due to improved portfolio quality and write-offs of
overdue loans in Myanmar.

·    The PAR>30 for the Group's operating subsidiaries, excluding India
and Myanmar, remained stable at 1.9%.

·    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 4.3%
in October to 4.0% in December.

·    Disbursements as percentage of collections exceeded 100% in 4
countries. The drop in most countries for December was primarily due to
operations closing for 6-12 days to observe the Christmas holidays. The lower
percentage in India was due to the ongoing strategic decision to reduce
disbursements.

·    The Group's Gross OLP increased to USD 367 million (3% higher than in
October 2022 and 15% lower than in December 2021), primarily due to OLP growth
in local currency in most markets and currency appreciation in Ghana.

·    There were no moratoriums granted to clients in November and December
2022.

 

 

Collection efficiency until 31 December 2022((1))

 Countries        Jul/22    Aug/22    Sep/22    Oct/22    Nov/22  Dec/22
 India            86%       84%       86%       83%       85%     87%
 Pakistan         100%      99%       99%       99%       99%     99%
 Sri Lanka        89%       88%       90%       91%       92%     93%
 The Philippines  100%      100%      100%      99%       99%     99%
 Myanmar          80%((2))  84%((2))  88%((2))  92%((2))  94%     97%
 Ghana            100%      100%      100%      100%      100%    100%
 Nigeria          96%       96%       96%       96%       96%     94%
 Sierra Leone     96%       94%       94%       93%       92%     93%
 Tanzania         100%      100%      100%      100%      100%    100%
 Kenya            100%      100%      100%      100%      100%    100%
 Uganda           100%      100%      100%      100%      99%     99%
 Rwanda           97%       97%       97%       97%       97%     97%
 Zambia           98%       98%       98%       98%       97%     97%
 ((1)) Collection efficiency refers to actual collections from clients divided
 by realisable collections for the period. It is calculated as follows: the sum
 of actual regular collections, actual overdue collections and actual advance
 payments divided by the sum of realisable regular collections, actual overdue
 collections

 and actual advance payments. Under this definition collection efficiency
 cannot exceed 100%.

 ((2)) Collections are impacted by the ongoing lockdowns and civil unrest in
 some areas of our operations.

·    Collection efficiency increased or remained broadly stable in all
countries.

·    Adjusted collection efficiency in India, including regular and overdue
collections as well as advance payments, as a percentage of the regular,
realisable collections, including advance payments, improved to 118%. The
substantial difference of this adjusted collection efficiency metric is
related 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.

·    Although market conditions in both Myanmar and Sri Lanka remained
volatile, collection efficiency improved in both markets.

 

Loan portfolio quality up to and including December 2022((3, 4, 5))

                 Gross OLP (in USDm)                                                               Non-overdue loans              PAR>30 less PAR>180
                Oct-22                Nov-22                        Dec-22                        Oct-22   Nov-22   Dec-22       Oct-22   Nov-22   Dec-22
 India (total)          52                       49                           45                  56.4%    54.8%    55.5%        21.9%    23.5%    24.1%
 Pakistan               81                       82                           80                  98.6%    98.8%    98.9%        0.6%     0.6%     0.6%
 Sri Lanka                4                        4                            4                 83.7%    86.3%    88.1%        7.0%     5.8%     5.2%
 Philippines            46                       48                           50                  96.7%    96.7%    98.1%        0.5%     0.6%     0.7%
 Myanmar                17                       18                           17                  70.8%    72.0%    79.5%        5.2%     3.7%     2.9%
 Ghana                  27                       27                           41                  99.5%    99.6%    99.7%        0.1%     0.1%     0.1%
 Nigeria                40                       41                           39                  90.1%    91.2%    88.3%        3.6%     3.6%     3.9%
 Sierra Leone             5                        5                            5                 86.7%    85.8%    86.9%        5.5%     6.2%     7.4%
 Tanzania               47                       49                           51                  99.4%    99.3%    99.5%        0.3%     0.3%     0.2%
 Kenya                  21                       20                           17                  99.0%    99.0%    99.0%        0.4%     0.3%     0.4%
 Uganda                 11                       12                           12                  98.4%    98.2%    98.7%        0.3%     0.6%     0.8%
 Rwanda                   4                        4                            4                 94.1%    94.2%    93.5%        2.4%     2.5%     2.6%
 Zambia                   3                        3                            3                 94.3%    93.7%    93.3%        2.3%     2.4%     2.6%
 Group                358                      363                          367                   89.7%    90.1%    91.3%        4.3%     4.3%     4.0%
                            PAR>30                                                           PAR>90                               PAR>180

                           Oct-22               Nov-22    Dec-22                            Oct-22         Nov-22   Dec-22       Oct-22   Nov-22            Dec-22
 India (total)             25.9%                27.0%     27.1%                             17.0%          21.0%    21.8%        4.0%     3.5%              3.0%
 Pakistan                  0.6%                 0.7%      0.7%                              0.1%           0.3%     0.4%         0.0%     0.0%              0.0%
 Sri Lanka                 10.2%                8.9%      8.5%                              6.0%           5.8%     5.9%         3.2%     3.1%              3.3%
 Philippines               1.7%                 1.7%      1.7%                              1.5%           1.3%     1.2%         1.2%     1.1%              0.9%
 Myanmar                   28.8%                27.5%     20.4%                             28.3%          27.3%    20.2%        23.6%    23.8%             17.5%
 Ghana                     0.3%                 0.2%      0.2%                              0.2%           0.2%     0.2%         0.1%     0.1%              0.1%
 Nigeria                   6.6%                 6.6%      7.1%                              4.7%           4.7%     5.1%         3.0%     3.0%              3.2%
 Sierra Leone              9.3%                 9.5%      10.7%                             5.6%           6.4%     7.2%         3.8%     3.4%              3.3%
 Tanzania                  0.4%                 0.4%      0.4%                              0.3%           0.3%     0.3%         0.1%     0.1%              0.2%
 Kenya                     0.8%                 0.7%      0.8%                              0.6%           0.6%     0.7%         0.4%     0.4%              0.5%
 Uganda                    0.4%                 0.7%      0.9%                              0.2%           0.3%     0.3%         0.1%     0.1%              0.1%
 Rwanda                    4.4%                 4.5%      4.6%                              3.2%           3.2%     3.2%         1.9%     1.9%              2.0%
 Zambia                    4.0%                 4.4%      5.0%                              2.9%           3.2%     3.6%         1.7%     2.0%              2.4%
 Group                     6.7%                 6.5%      5.9%                              4.9%           5.2%     4.7%         2.4%     2.3%              1.8%
 ((3))  Gross OLP includes the off-book BC and DA model, excluding interest
 receivable and before deducting ECL provisions and modification loss.

 ((4))  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.

 ((5))  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.

·    Due to the continuing strategic focus in India on primarily
collections, Gross OLP in India further reduced to USD 45 million (14% lower
than in October 2022 and 61% lower than in December 2021).

·    PAR>30 for the Group decreased from 6.7% in October to 5.9% in
December primarily due to improved portfolio quality and write-offs of overdue
in Myanmar.

·    Credit exposure of the India off-book BC portfolio of USD 21.4m is
capped at 5%. The included off-book DA portfolio of USD 1.2 million has no
credit exposure.

 

Disbursements vs collections of loans until 31 December 2022((6))

 Countries        Jul/22  Aug/22  Sep/22  Oct/22  Nov/22  Dec/22
 India            22%     25%     21%     10%     22%     26%
 Pakistan         113%    112%    115%    125%    120%    86%
 Sri Lanka        11%     93%     125%    147%    135%    89%
 The Philippines  104%    104%    103%    103%    104%    106%
 Myanmar          84%     95%     113%    102%    115%    87%
 Ghana            91%     100%    110%    122%    120%    131%
 Nigeria          100%    104%    106%    107%    109%    82%
 Sierra Leone     84%     80%     123%    128%    125%    94%
 Tanzania         106%    111%    109%    114%    117%    125%
 Kenya            105%    87%     120%    115%    99%     41%
 Uganda           97%     100%    111%    112%    112%    93%
 Rwanda           113%    116%    118%    113%    107%    104%
 Zambia           109%    110%    112%    109%    109%    95%
 ((6)) Disbursements vs collections refers to actual loan disbursements made to
 clients divided by total amounts collected from clients in the period.

·    Disbursements as percentage of collections exceeded 100% in 4
countries. The drop in most countries for December was primarily due to
operations closing for 6-12 days to observe the Christmas holidays. The low
percentage in India was due to the ongoing strategic decision to reduce
disbursements.

 

Development of Clients and Outstanding Loan Portfolio until 31 December 2022

                   Clients (in thousands)           Delta                         Gross OLP (in USDm)           Delta
 Countries        Dec-21     Oct-22     Dec-22     Dec/21-Dec/22  Oct/22-Dec/22  Dec-21    Oct-22    Dec-22    Dec/21-Dec/22 USD  Dec/21-Dec/22 CC((7))  Oct/22-Dec/22 USD
 India            541        337        284        -47%           -16%           114       52        45        -61%               -56%                   -14%
 Pakistan         512        605        606        18%            0%             79        81        80        1%                 29%                    -2%
 Sri Lanka        53         47         47         -12%           0%             8         4         4         -52%               -14%                   4%
 The Philippines  289        327        325        13%            -1%            47        46        50        7%                 17%                    7%
 Myanmar          111        105        99         -11%           -5%            20        17        17        -16%               -1%                    -1%
 Ghana            158        171        178        13%            4%             49        27        41        -17%               38%                    54%
 Nigeria          254        241        222        -13%           -8%            40        40        39        -1%                7%                     -3%
 Sierra Leone     45         37         37         -18%           -1%            7         5         5         -35%               9%                     -5%
 Tanzania         174        211        217        25%            2%             35        47        51        48%                50%                    10%
 Kenya            119        140        141        19%            1%             17        21        17        2%                 12%                    -17%
 Uganda           92         108        111        21%            3%             10        11        12        19%                25%                    4%
 Rwanda           18         21         21         17%            3%             3         4         4         29%                33%                    3%
 Zambia           15         21         21         43%            -2%            2         3         3         32%                43%                    -9%
 Total            2,381      2,371      2,309      -3%            -3%            431       358       367       -15%               2.5%                   3%

( )

((7)) Constant currency ('CC') implies conversion of local currency results to
USD with the exchange rate from the beginning of the period.

 

·    The Group's Gross OLP increased to USD 367 million (3% higher than in
October 2022 and 15% lower than in December 2021), primarily due to OLP growth
in local currency in most markets and currency appreciation in Ghana.

Key events in January and February 2023

·    Other than the existing partial curfews in Myanmar, the Company is not
aware of any further restrictions implemented in its operating countries up
until 23 February 2023.

 

---

 

Enquiries:

ASA International Group plc

Investor Relations
 

Mischa Assink
 
ir@asa-international.com (mailto:@asa-international.com)

 

About ASA International Group plc

ASA International Group plc (ASAI: LN) 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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