REG - ASA Intnl. Grp PLC - October 2020 business update
ASA International Group plc October 2020 business update
Amsterdam, 18 November 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 31 October 2020.
· The immediate health impact of COVID-19 on the Company's operations remains low.
· Liquidity continues to remain high with approximately USD 112m of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents across the Group on 31 October 2020.
· The pipeline of funding deals under negotiation totalled approximately USD 183.5m.
· Collection efficiency remained high with 8 out of 13 operating countries showing percentage rates in the mid to high nineties.
· Kenya and Uganda significantly improved collections reaching 91% and 78%, respectively.
· The Philippines continued to struggle with collections reducing from 74% to 69% as result of the imposition by the government of a 60-days grace period for the repayment of loan instalments until the end of December which many clients availed, the ongoing disruption caused by limited, regional lockdowns in certain parts of the country as well as the three major typhoons which hit the Philippines in quick succession recently.
· Collections also were adversely affected by the institution of regional lockdowns affecting 56 branches in Myanmar and the temporary suspension of operations in up to 50 branches in Sri Lanka due to a rapid increase in COVID-19 infections.
· Disbursements as percentage of collections exceeded 100% in many countries with the exception of India, Myanmar, the Philippines, Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia.
· As a result, the number of clients and Gross OLP continued to gradually increase reaching approximately 2.3m and USD 428m, respectively, across the Group.
· The Moratoriums granted for October amounted to USD 7.1m and primarily stemmed from (i) the 60-day grace period for the repayment of loan instalments in the Philippines, (ii) the regional lockdowns for up to two months in Myanmar, and (iii) the temporary suspension of operations in Sri Lanka.
Health impact of COVID-19 on our communities
· The immediate health impact of COVID-19 on the Company's operations remained low with 81 of our over 12,500 staff members confirmed as infected, but with no deaths. The number of confirmed infections amongst our 2.3m clients increased from 419 at end of September to 1,192 as at 31 October 2020, resulting in 21 deaths.
Funding
· Unrestricted cash and cash equivalents remained high at approximately USD 112m.
· The Company secured approximately USD 22.7m of new loans from local and international lenders in October 2020.
· The majority of the Company's USD 183.5 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 31 October 2020(1)
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
India
41%
49%
53%
58%
60%
68%
78%
74%
77%
76%
Pakistan
96%
96%
96%
94%
96%
96%
96%
97%
97%
97%
Sri Lanka
93%
92%
95%
95%
94%
91%
96%
99%
90%
83%
Myanmar
96%
96%
97%
97%
95%
93%
91%
78%
65%
75%
The Philippines
70%
65%
65%
67%
67%
68%
69%
74%
65%
68%
Ghana
101%
100%
99%
99%
99%
99%
99%
100%
99%
100%
Nigeria
90%
94%
90%
90%
91%
91%
91%
93%
93%
94%
Sierra Leone
94%
96%
96%
97%
94%
97%
96%
99%
99%
99%
Kenya
69%
73%
70%
74%
76%
76%
77%
81%
84%
91%
Tanzania
100%
98%
98%
98%
98%
98%
99%
99%
99%
99%
Uganda
57%
63%
63%
63%
65%
67%
72%
73%
72%
78%
Rwanda
88%
89%
86%
82%
85%
84%
88%
87%
86%
91%
Zambia
99%
99%
99%
99%
100%
100%
100%
100%
99%
99%
(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;
· Collection efficiency across the Group remained high with 8 out of 13 operating countries showing percentage rates in the mid to high nineties.
· Kenya and Uganda significantly improved collections reaching 91% and 78%, respectively.
· The government imposed a 60-day grace period for the repayment of loans adversely affected collections in the Philippines.
· Collections were also affected by the institution of a temporary lockdowns in Yangon and parts of Bago Division in Myanmar and the partial suspension of operations in Sri Lanka due to increased COVID-19 infections.
Disbursements vs collections of loans until 31 October 2020(2)
· With the business environment gradually improving in many countries, disbursements of fresh loans continued to increase in amount and as a percentage of weekly collections in many countries in October.
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
India
54%
70%
78%
74%
75%
79%
78%
91%
91%
68%
Pakistan
72%
85%
90%
91%
95%
89%
93%
99%
99%
99%
Sri Lanka
8%
74%
128%
145%
64%
118%
122%
144%
17%
135%
Myanmar
73%
101%
114%
122%
97%
104%
103%
63%
24%
44%
The Philippines
57%
51%
70%
79%
77%
80%
90%
111%
74%
96%
Ghana
120%
120%
112%
117%
113%
115%
123%
119%
116%
95%
Nigeria
67%
96%
104%
104%
87%
115%
129%
139%
152%
136%
Sierra Leone
110%
131%
139%
97%
105%
117%
115%
123%
123%
116%
Kenya
85%
87%
99%
101%
93%
95%
101%
108%
92%
103%
Tanzania
104%
121%
116%
112%
97%
107%
111%
119%
101%
106%
Uganda
42%
75%
78%
69%
65%
68%
69%
66%
88%
95%
Rwanda
88%
93%
79%
87%
81%
79%
84%
81%
83%
87%
Zambia
136%
184%
181%
188%
129%
178%
151%
85%
93%
86%
(2) Disbursements vs collections refers to actual loan disbursements made to clients divided by total loans collected from clients in the period
Development of Clients and Outstanding Loan Portfolio
· With disbursements gradually increasing in many operating countries, Gross OLP(3) increased to USD 428m (up 1%) in October 2020 compared to the previous month.
Clients (in thousands)
Delta
Gross OLP (in USDm)
Delta
Countries
Dec/19
Sep/20
Oct/20
Dec-Oct
Sep-Oct
Dec/19
Sep/20
Oct/20
Dec-Oct USD
Dec-Oct CC
Sep-Oct USD
India
732
709
713
-3%
1%
183.0
168.3
166.3
-9%
-5%
-1%
Pakistan
439
417
409
-7%
-2%
62.9
54.4
58.4
-7%
-4%
7%
Sri Lanka
63
57
56
-11%
-1%
10.1
9.1
9.0
-11%
-10%
-1%
Myanmar
152
134
128
-16%
-4%
31.7
31.9
30.4
-4%
-17%
-5%
The Philippines
340
262
278
-18%
6%
53.2
47.0
47.2
-11%
-15%
0%
Ghana
165
145
151
-9%
4%
41.7
39.8
40.6
-3%
0%
2%
Nigeria
260
222
228
-12%
3%
33.5
25.4
28.1
-16%
-12%
11%
Sierra Leone
34
32
35
3%
8%
2.9
3.9
4.2
45%
46%
8%
Kenya
101
81
86
-15%
5%
17.7
12.5
12.8
-28%
-22%
2%
Tanzania
123
104
108
-12%
4%
20.5
19.3
20.5
0%
1%
6%
Uganda
101
83
81
-20%
-2%
10.4
7.7
7.9
-24%
-23%
3%
Rwanda
21
19
19
-11%
0%
3.0
2.6
2.6
-14%
-11%
-1%
Zambia
2
4
5
146%
14%
0.2
0.4
0.4
116%
216%
-3%
Total
2,533
2,269
2,297
-9%
1%
471
422
428
-12%
-7%
1%
(3) Loan portfolio including the off-book BC and DA model, excluding interest receivable and before deducting the ECL provision and modification loss
Selected moratorium(4) on loan repayments
Clients under moratorium
As % of
Countries
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Total Clients
India
0
0
0
182,318
181,878
165,618
0
0
0%
Pakistan
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
Sri Lanka
0
0
0
37,891
9,002
78
116
23,430
42%
Myanmar
2,307
2,101
35,056
12,394
7,876
15,308
32,118
64,501
50%
The Philippines
1,297
0
57,130
145,086
65,405
59,626
100,427
95,241
34%
Ghana
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
Nigeria
0
0
4,042
10,523
9,763
0
0
0
0%
Sierra Leone
0
91
1,225
1,336
1,178
0
0
0
0%
Kenya
20,453
17,366
9,660
7,778
26,697
0
0
0
0%
Tanzania
0
194
5,323
4,162
0
0
0
0
0%
Uganda
8,269
0
0
75,360
59,563
49,897
3,557
0
0%
Rwanda
436
0
7,746
7,886
4,703
2,800
0
0
0%
Zambia
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
8.0%
Moratorium amounts (in USD thousands)
October moratoriums
As % of Total Moratoriums
Countries
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Total
as % of OLP
India
0
0
0
5,831
5,332
3,633
0
0
14,796
0%
28%
Pakistan
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
0%
Sri Lanka
0
0
0
1,160
250
2
24
264
1,699
3%
3%
Myanmar
42
43
732
347
253
408
877
1,973
4,677
6%
9%
The Philippines
16
0
927
6,247
2,110
2,253
3,928
4,902
20,382
10%
39%
Ghana
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
0%
Nigeria
0
0
137
465
431
0
0
0
1,033
0%
2%
Sierra Leone
0
1
10
19
21
0
0
0
51
0%
0%
Kenya
675
432
2,146
730
807
0
0
0
4,790
0%
9%
Tanzania
0
5
147
115
0
0
0
0
266
0%
1%
Uganda
76
0
0
1,698
1,536
1,156
155
0
4,620
0%
9%
Rwanda
5
0
161
218
125
75
0
0
584
0%
1%
Zambia
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0%
0%
Total
813
482
4,260
16,831
10,863
7,528
4,984
7,139
52,900
1.7%
100.0%
(4) Moratoriums relate to clients who have received an extension for the payment of one or more loan instalments during the month.
· In October 2020, the moratorium on loan repayments granted to clients amounted to USD 7.1m, which represents 1.7% of the Group's Gross OLP.
· Moratoriums were granted to clients in the Philippines, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
· In the Philippines, the new government directive for financial institutions to offer clients a 60-day grace period for the payment of loan instalments was availed by many clients. The country also experienced three major typhoons hitting Luzon Island in recent weeks, which caused substantial disruption to our clients' businesses on top of the existing disruption already caused by COVID-19.
· In Myanmar, the institution of regional lockdowns caused the temporary closure of 56 branches in Yangon and parts of Bago Region for a period of up to two months.
· Due to the rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 infections in Sri Lanka, operations were temporarily suspended in more than 50 branches.
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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