REG - ASA Intnl. Grp PLC - November 2020 business update
RNS Number : 9310IASA International Group PLC17 December 2020
ASA International Group plc November 2020 business update
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 17 December 2020 - 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 2020.
· The immediate health impact of COVID-19 on the Company's operations remains low.
· Liquidity continues to remain high with approximately USD 100m of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents across the Group on 30 November 2020.
· The pipeline of funding deals under negotiation totalled approximately USD 230m.
· 9 out of 13 operating countries showed collections percentage rates in the mid to high nineties.
· India continues to struggle with collections remaining in the high seventies.
· The Philippines continued to gradually improve collections in November despite a difficult business environment amongst others due to the damage caused by the three recent typhoons hitting Luzon Island and the 60-days grace period for the repayment of loan instalments instituted by the government until the end of December.
· Collections were not possible in 56 branches based in Yangon and Bago division in Myanmar, due to lockdowns instituted by the Government in these regions until the end of December. In other regions of Myanmar collections were close to 90%.
· Collection efficiency continued to improve in Kenya and Uganda.
· Disbursements as percentage of collections exceeded 100% in many countries with the exception of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.
· As a result, the number of clients and Gross OLP continued to gradually increase reaching approximately 2.4m and USD 439m, respectively, across the Group.
· The Moratoriums granted for November amounted to USD 5.5m and stemmed from the operations in the Philippines and Myanmar.
Health impact of COVID-19 on our communities
· The immediate health impact of COVID-19 on the Company's operations remained low with 91 of our over 12,500 staff members confirmed as infected since March 2020, but with no deaths. Since March 2020, confirmed infections amongst our 2.4m clients increased from 1,192 at end of October to 1,383 as at 30 November 2020, resulting in 23 deaths.
Funding
· Unrestricted cash and cash equivalents remained high at approximately USD 100m.
· The Company secured approximately USD 7.1m of new loans from local and international lenders in November 2020.
· The majority of the Company's USD 232.2m 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 2020(1, 2)
Country
01-07 Aug
08-14 Aug
15-22 Aug
23-29 Aug
30 Aug-05 Sep
06-12 Sep
13-19 Sep
20-30 Sep
01-15 Oct
16-31 Oct
01-15 Nov
16-30 Nov
India
41%
49%
53%
58%
60%
68%
78%
74%
77%
76%
78%
77%
Pakistan
96%
96%
96%
94%
96%
96%
96%
97%
97%
97%
97%
97%
Sri Lanka
93%
92%
95%
95%
94%
91%
96%
99%
90%
83%
79%
96%
The Philippines
70%
65%
65%
67%
67%
68%
69%
74%
65%
68%
69%
75%
Myanmar
96%
96%
97%
97%
95%
93%
91%
78%
65%
75%
86%
88%
Nigeria
90%
94%
90%
90%
91%
91%
91%
93%
93%
94%
94%
95%
Ghana
101%
100%
99%
99%
99%
99%
99%
100%
99%
100%
100%
100%
Sierra Leone
94%
96%
96%
97%
94%
97%
96%
99%
99%
99%
93%
96%
Kenya
69%
73%
70%
74%
76%
76%
77%
81%
84%
91%
95%
110%
Tanzania
100%
98%
98%
98%
98%
98%
99%
99%
99%
99%
99%
100%
Uganda
57%
63%
63%
63%
65%
67%
72%
73%
72%
78%
82%
90%
Rwanda
88%
89%
86%
82%
85%
84%
88%
87%
86%
91%
93%
96%
Zambia
99%
99%
99%
99%
100%
100%
100%
100%
99%
99%
100%
100%
(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) Collection efficiency in Myanmar excludes the branches in Yangon and Bago Region, which are under strict lockdowns in November and December.
· Collection efficiency across the Group remained high with 9 out of 13 operating countries showing percentage rates in the mid to high nineties.
· In India, collections remained stable with many clients still struggling to pay instalments on time due to the disruption caused by COVID-19, the long duration of the lockdown and subsequent moratoriums, and natural calamities (cyclone Amphan and flooding in Assam).
· In the Philippines, the government imposed a 60-day grace period for the repayment of loans until the end of December 2020. In addition, there is ongoing disruption caused by limited, regional lockdowns in certain parts of the country. The Philippines is recovering from three typhoons which hit Luzon Island in quick succession recently and which caused substantial disruption to our clients' businesses on top of the existing disruption already caused by COVID-19.
· Collections were not possible in Yangon and Bago divisions in Myanmar due to the institution of a two-months lockdown starting November. In other regions of Myanmar collections were close to 90%.
· Kenya and Uganda significantly improved collections reaching 110% and 90%, respectively.
Disbursements vs collections of loans until 30 November 2020(3)
Country
01-07 Aug
08-14 Aug
15-22 Aug
23-29 Aug
30 Aug-05 Sep
06-12 Sep
13-19 Sep
20-30 Sep
01-15 Oct
16-31 Oct
01-15 Nov
16-30 Nov
India
54%
70%
78%
74%
75%
79%
78%
91%
91%
68%
81%
72%
Pakistan
72%
85%
90%
91%
95%
89%
93%
99%
99%
99%
99%
99%
Sri Lanka
8%
74%
128%
145%
64%
118%
122%
144%
17%
135%
45%
89%
The Philippines
57%
51%
70%
79%
77%
80%
90%
111%
74%
96%
55%
107%
Myanmar
73%
101%
114%
122%
97%
104%
103%
63%
24%
44%
88%
132%
Nigeria
67%
96%
104%
104%
87%
115%
129%
139%
152%
136%
172%
162%
Ghana
120%
120%
112%
117%
113%
115%
123%
119%
116%
95%
118%
112%
Sierra Leone
110%
131%
139%
97%
105%
117%
115%
123%
123%
116%
100%
101%
Kenya
85%
87%
99%
101%
93%
95%
101%
108%
92%
103%
91%
110%
Tanzania
104%
121%
116%
112%
97%
107%
111%
119%
101%
106%
93%
90%
Uganda
42%
75%
78%
69%
65%
68%
69%
66%
88%
95%
95%
100%
Rwanda
88%
93%
79%
87%
81%
79%
84%
81%
83%
87%
102%
112%
Zambia
136%
184%
181%
188%
129%
178%
151%
85%
93%
86%
85%
109%
(3) Disbursements vs collections refers to actual loan disbursements made to clients divided by total loans collected from clients in the period.
· With the business environment improving in many countries, disbursements of fresh loans continued to increase in amount and as a percentage of weekly collections.
Development of Clients and Outstanding Loan Portfolio(4) until 30 November 2020
Clients (in thousands)
Delta
Gross OLP (in USDm)
Delta
Countries
Dec/19
Oct/20
Nov/20
Dec-Nov
Oct-Nov
Dec/19
Oct/20
Nov/20
Dec- Nov USD
Dec- Nov CC
Oct-Nov USD
India
732
713
713
-3%
0%
183.0
166.3
165.6
-9%
-6%
0%
Pakistan
439
409
416
-5%
2%
62.9
58.4
62.3
-1%
2%
7%
Sri Lanka
63
56
55
-12%
-2%
10.1
9.0
8.8
-13%
-11%
-3%
The Philippines
340
278
292
-14%
5%
53.2
47.2
48.5
-9%
-13%
3%
Myanmar
152
128
128
-16%
0%
31.7
30.4
30.1
-5%
-16%
-1%
Nigeria
260
228
253
-3%
11%
33.5
28.1
32.8
-2%
3%
17%
Ghana
165
151
158
-4%
5%
41.7
40.6
40.4
-3%
-1%
0%
Sierra Leone
34
35
37
8%
5%
2.9
4.2
4.5
53%
57%
6%
Kenya
101
86
90
-11%
5%
17.7
12.8
13.1
-26%
-20%
2%
Tanzania
123
108
116
-5%
8%
20.5
20.5
21.1
3%
4%
3%
Uganda
101
81
82
-19%
1%
10.4
7.9
8.3
-20%
-19%
5%
Rwanda
21
19
19
-9%
2%
3.0
2.6
2.7
-9%
-5%
5%
Zambia
2
5
5
172%
11%
0.2
0.4
0.4
121%
228%
2%
Total
2,533
2,297
2,364
-7%
3%
471
428
439
-7%
-5%
2%
(4) Loan portfolio including the off-book BC and DA model, excluding interest receivable and before deducting the ECL provision and modification loss.
· Disbursements as percentage of collections exceeded 100% in many countries with the exception of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.
· With disbursements gradually increasing in many operating countries, Gross OLP increased to USD 439m (up 2%) in November 2020 compared to the previous month.
Selected moratorium(5) on loan repayments until 30 November 2020
Clients under moratorium
As % of
Countries
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Total Clients
India
0
0
0
182,318
181,878
165,618
0
0
0
0%
Pakistan
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
Sri Lanka
0
0
0
37,891
9,002
78
116
23,430
0
0%
The Philippines
1,297
0
57,130
145,086
65,405
59,626
100,427
95,241
98,337
34%
Myanmar
2,307
2,101
35,056
12,394
7,876
15,308
32,118
64,501
11,461
9%
Nigeria
0
0
4,042
10,523
9,763
0
0
0
0
0%
Ghana
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
Sierra Leone
0
91
1,225
1,336
1,178
0
0
0
0
0%
Kenya
20,453
17,366
9,660
7,778
26,697
0
0
0
0
0%
Tanzania
0
194
5,323
4,162
0
0
0
0
0
0%
Uganda
8,269
0
0
75,360
59,563
49,897
3,557
0
0
0%
Rwanda
436
0
7,746
7,886
4,703
2,800
0
0
0
0%
Zambia
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
Total
32,762
19,752
120,182
484,734
366,065
293,327
136,218
183,172
109,798
4.6%
Moratorium amounts (in USD thousands)
November moratoriums as % of OLP
As % of Total Moratoriums
Countries
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Total
India
0
0
0
5,831
5,368
3,658
0
0
0
14,857
0%
25%
Pakistan
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
0%
Sri Lanka
0
0
0
1,153
248
2
24
262
0
1,688
0%
3%
The Philippines
16
0
935
6,300
2,128
2,272
3,961
4,943
5,165
25,719
11%
44%
Myanmar
42
43
719
341
249
401
862
1,938
306
4,900
1%
8%
Nigeria
0
0
137
466
431
0
0
0
0
1,034
0%
2%
Ghana
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
0%
Sierra Leone
0
1
10
19
20
0
0
0
0
51
0%
0%
Kenya
667
427
2,122
722
797
0
0
0
0
4,735
0%
8%
Tanzania
0
5
147
115
0
0
0
0
0
267
0%
0%
Uganda
77
0
0
1,718
1,553
1,169
156
0
0
4,673
0%
8%
Rwanda
4
0
159
216
124
74
0
0
0
577
0%
1%
Zambia
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
0%
Total
806
476
4,229
16,879
10,918
7,577
5,003
7,143
5,471
58,501
1.2%
100.0%
(5) Moratoriums relate to clients who have received an extension for the payment of one or more loan instalments during the month.
· The moratorium on loan repayments were granted to clients in the Philippines and Myanmar and amounted to USD 5.5m, which represents 1.2% of the Group's Gross OLP.
---
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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