REG - ASA Intnl. Grp PLC - March 2024 Quarterly Business Update

ASA InternationalAnnouncement

23/04/2024 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20240423:nRSW5923La&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 5923L  ASA International Group PLC  23 April 2024

Press release

 

ASA International Group plc March 2024 quarterly business update

 

London, United Kingdom, 23 April 2024 - 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 of 31 March 2024.

·    The Group's Gross OLP increased to USD 380 million (0.9% higher than
in December 2023 and 13% higher than at 31 March 2023).

·    All operating subsidiaries, achieved collection efficiency of more
than 90% with 12 countries achieving more than 95%.

·      Collection efficiency in India improved to 98% in March 2024
compared to 97% in December 2023. The intentional decrease in our own
portfolio in India has slowed down while the business continues to grow the
off-book BC portfolio in India. This approach is designed to help India retain
good clients.

·    PAR>30 for the Group, including off-book loans and excluding loans
overdue for more than 365 days, improved to 1.8% in March 2024 (December 2023:
2.0%).

·    Excluding all loans which have been overdue for more than 180 days
and, as a result, have been fully provided for, PAR>30 remained stable at
1.1% in March 2024 (December 2023: 1.1%).

·    Disbursements as a percentage of collections exceeded 100% in ten
countries.

 

Collection efficiency until 31 March 2024((1))

 Countries        Oct/23  Nov/23  Dec/23  Jan/24  Feb/24  Mar/24
 Pakistan         100%    100%    100%    100%    100%    99%
 India (total)    95%     95%     97%     95%     97%     98%
 Sri Lanka        95%     96%     96%     96%     96%     96%
 The Philippines  98%     98%     98%     98%     98%     99%
 Myanmar          100%    100%    100%    100%    100%    100%
 Ghana            100%    100%    100%    100%    100%    100%
 Nigeria          95%     95%     95%     94%     94%     93%
 Sierra Leone     98%     98%     99%     97%     97%     97%
 Tanzania         100%    100%    100%    99%     99%     99%
 Kenya            100%    100%    100%    100%    100%    100%
 Uganda           100%    100%    100%    100%    100%    100%
 Rwanda           97%     96%     96%     96%     95%     95%
 Zambia           99%     99%     99%     99%     99%     99%

((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%.

 

·    Collection efficiency remained stable at high levels in most of our
operating countries during March 2024 compared to December 2023.

·    Collection efficiency in India improved to 98% in March 2024 compared
to 97% in December 2023.

·    Although market conditions in both Myanmar and Nigeria remained
challenging, collection efficiency remained largely stable.

Loan portfolio quality up to and including March 2024((2, 3))

 

                   Gross OLP (in USDm)                                                         Non-overdue loans          PAR>30 less PAR>180
                  Jan-24                Feb-24                      Mar-24                    Jan-24   Feb-24   Mar-24   Jan-24      Feb-24      Mar-24
 Pakistan                 70                       72                         73              99.6%    98.9%    98.7%    0.3%        0.4%        0.4%
 India (total)            47                       49                         50              81.4%    94.8%    95.2%    2.5%        1.9%        1.8%
 Sri Lanka                  4                        5                          5             92.6%    92.8%    92.2%    3.2%        2.9%        3.3%
 The Philippines          55                       56                         57              95.3%    95.0%    94.9%    2.5%        2.4%        2.2%
 Myanmar                  22                       23                         21              92.9%    93.1%    99.7%    0.1%        0.2%        0.2%
 Ghana                    48                       48                         45              99.6%    99.6%    99.5%    0.1%        0.1%        0.1%
 Nigeria                  15                         9                          9             80.9%    79.1%    77.6%    4.4%        5.3%        5.9%
 Sierra Leone               5                        5                          5             92.5%    92.2%    92.4%    1.8%        2.1%        2.3%
 Tanzania                 65                       65                         66              98.6%    98.4%    98.3%    0.5%        0.6%        0.7%
 Kenya                    21                       25                         29              99.6%    99.6%    99.6%    0.1%        0.1%        0.1%
 Uganda                   13                       13                         13              98.8%    98.9%    98.9%    0.3%        0.2%        0.2%
 Rwanda                     4                        4                          4             90.2%    89.1%    89.0%    3.6%        4.4%        4.6%
 Zambia                     3                        3                          3             95.7%    95.3%    95.2%    0.9%        1.2%        1.3%
 Group                  373             375                                 380               95.0%    96.7%    97.0%    1.2%        1.1%        1.1%

 

 

                  PAR>30                  PAR>90                   PAR>180
                  Jan-24  Feb-24  Mar-24  Jan-24  Feb-24  Mar-24  Jan-24  Feb-24  Mar-24
 Pakistan         0.3%    0.5%    0.8%    0.2%    0.3%    0.7%    0.0%    0.1%    0.5%
 India (total)    3.1%    2.2%    2.1%    1.6%    1.0%    1.0%    0.6%    0.3%    0.3%
 Sri Lanka        4.9%    4.6%    4.9%    3.2%    3.0%    3.0%    1.8%    1.6%    1.6%
 The Philippines  3.8%    3.8%    3.8%    2.8%    3.0%    3.0%    1.3%    1.5%    1.6%
 Myanmar          0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.1%    0.1%    0.2%    0.0%    0.0%    0.0%
 Ghana            0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.1%    0.1%    0.1%    0.1%    0.1%    0.1%
 Nigeria          12.7%   13.1%   12.8%   10.4%   10.1%   9.1%    8.3%    7.9%    6.9%
 Sierra Leone     4.3%    4.3%    4.2%    3.4%    3.1%    2.8%    2.5%    2.2%    1.9%
 Tanzania         1.0%    1.1%    1.2%    0.7%    0.8%    0.8%    0.5%    0.5%    0.5%
 Kenya            0.3%    0.3%    0.3%    0.3%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.2%    0.1%
 Uganda           0.8%    0.8%    0.7%    0.7%    0.7%    0.6%    0.5%    0.6%    0.5%
 Rwanda           7.1%    7.7%    7.8%    5.3%    5.5%    5.5%    3.6%    3.4%    3.2%
 Zambia           2.5%    2.5%    2.6%    2.1%    1.9%    1.8%    1.5%    1.3%    1.3%
 Group            2.0%    1.7%    1.8%    1.4%    1.2%    1.3%    0.8%    0.7%    0.8%

 

 

(2)   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 0.6% of the Gross OLP.

(3)   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.

·    Gross OLP in India further increased to USD 50 million (9% higher
than in December 2023 and 13% higher than in March 2023).

·    PAR>30 for the Group, including off-book loans and excluding loans
overdue for more than 365 days, improved to 1.8% in March 2024.

·    The off-book portfolio in India consists of IDFC of USD 11.0 million,
Fincare of USD 3.9 million and the Jana portfolio of USD 29.6 million. The
off-book DA portfolio amounts to USD 1.0 million.

Disbursements vs collections of loans until 31 March 2024((4))

 

 Countries        Oct/23  Nov/23  Dec/23  Jan/24  Feb/24  Mar/24
 Pakistan         95%     96%     98%     106%    79%     84%
 India (total)    64%     123%    121%    127%    122%    118%
 Sri Lanka        109%    102%    112%    91%     133%    119%
 The Philippines  103%    105%    107%    103%    109%    107%
 Myanmar          124%    116%    117%    109%    107%    113%
 Ghana            109%    127%    118%    86%     105%    98%
 Nigeria          120%    135%    96%     60%     77%     73%
 Sierra Leone     113%    98%     80%     96%     119%    130%
 Tanzania         113%    115%    117%    101%    102%    109%
 Kenya            113%    120%    85%     118%    115%    115%
 Uganda           115%    115%    96%     93%     109%    110%
 Rwanda           116%    120%    118%    77%     96%     110%
 Zambia           124%    134%    115%    81%     100%    110%

((4)) Disbursements vs collections refers to actual loan disbursements made to
clients divided by total amounts collected from clients in the period.

·    Disbursements as a percentage of collections exceeded 100% in ten
countries.

·    The decreased percentages in Pakistan during February and March 2024
were due to elections and the migration to the new Core Banking System.

·    The decreased percentages in Nigeria during January to March 2024
were due to the challenging market condition.

 

Development of Clients and Outstanding Loan Portfolio until 31 March 2024

                   Clients (in thousands)           Delta                         Gross OLP (in USDm)                                 Delta
 Countries        Mar/23     Feb/24     Mar/24     Mar/23-Mar/24  Feb/24-Mar/24  Mar/23    Feb/24              Mar/24                Mar/23-Mar/24 USD  Mar/23-Mar/24 CC((5))  Feb/24-

Mar/24 USD
 Pakistan         601        625        621        3%             -1%            64               72                   73            14%                12%                    1%
 India (total)    224        178        180        -20%           1%             44               49                   50            13%                14%                    2%
 Sri Lanka        45         44         45         -1%            1%             5                  5                    5           7%                 -2%                    6%
 The Philippines  326        336        341        4%             1.5%           52               56                   57            10%                13%                    2%
 Myanmar          98         115        117        19%            2%             18               23                   21            21%                21%                    -5%
 Ghana            180        198        194        8%             -2%            35               48                   45            29%                46%                    -5%
 Nigeria          174        173        165        -5%            -5%            24                 9                    9           -62%               15%                    8%
 Sierra Leone     36         38         38         6%             0%             4                  5                    5           25%                -100%                  7%
 Tanzania         221        251        253        14%            1%             53               65                   66            24%                36%                    1%
 Kenya            159        210        215        35%            3%             18               25                   29            56%                56%                    16%
 Uganda           105        123        125        19%            1%             11               13                   13            15%                19%                    4%
 Rwanda           20         20         20         3%             0%             4                  4                    4           3%                 20%                    2%
 Zambia           21         26         26         22%            2%             3                  3                    3           10%                30%                    -5%
 Group            2,209      2,338      2,339      6%             0.04%          335       375                 380                   13%                21.9%                  1.4%

( )

((5)) 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 improved to USD 380 million (0.9% higher than
in December 2023 and 13% higher than in March 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.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTFFFILSLIFFIS