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  


 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

 

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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