Bond issuance in local currency to support on-lending to small businesses
FINCA Impact Finance
Jan 03, 2019, 09:00 ET
YEREVAN, Armenia and WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ – FINCA Armenia announced the issuance of AMD 1.4 billion (USD 2.8 million) in nominal, non-documentary coupon bonds, further diversifying its funding base. Each three-year coupon bond has a nominal value of AMD 10,000 and a semi-annual coupon rate of 10.5%. The issuance is the first of three tranches the institution plans to issue over the next year, with a total value of USD 10 million.
The new issuance was listed on the NASDAQ OMX Armenia secondary list of bonds (Bbond). As in previous issuances by FINCA Armenia on the NASDAQ OMX, the bond offering was oversubscribed, with the purchasers being local banks, pension funds and individual investors. The funding will support on-lending to small businesses throughout the country.
FINCA Armenia, one of 20 banks and microfinance institutions that make up the FINCA Impact Finance (FIF) network, has been operating since 1999 and is one of the country's leading microfinance institutions. It serves more than 35,000 clients through both traditional and branchless banking channels, including online banking. The issuance is the third by the FIF subsidiary in the past two years, following the issuance of tranches worth USD 4 million and AMD 1.5 billion, respectively, in 2017.
"The success of this bond offering is a testament to FINCA Impact Finance having earned the confidence of local investors in the markets where we operate," said Roman Hingorani, FIF CFO. "We are shifting from a heavy reliance on international borrowing to more local funding sources. This helps mitigate foreign exchange and geographic risks and strengthens our relationships with local investors."
FIF's bond offerings are attracting growing interest from the investment community, including issuances by subsidiaries in Pakistan and Nicaragua. FIF, which provides responsible finance to low-income people in 20 countries, is diversifying its sources of funding and using the proceeds from bond issuances to broaden its offering of financial products and services.
About FINCA Impact Finance
FINCA Impact Finance is a network of 20 microfinance institutions and banks that provides socially responsible financial services to enable low-income individuals and communities to invest in their futures. For more information, visit www.FINCAImpact.com and follow on Twitter @Fincaimpact.
SOURCE FINCA Impact Finance
http://www.fincaimpact.com