Advanced Bank of Asia Ltd (ABA Bank) reported $103,910,518 in after-tax profit for the nine months that ended on Sept 30, despite having restructured 10,807 loans amounting to $552.5 million, according to the bank’s Q3 2020 report.

In the report, disclosed to the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) yesterday, the bank’s total assets increased by 29.52 percent to $5,657,731,893, with total equity increasing by 46 percent to $720,290,678 compared with Q3 2019 results.

For the Q3 period, ABA Bank’s total interest income increased by 27.64 percent to $88,509,590. Total comprehensive income increased by 25.43 percent to $38,356,559 compared with Q3 2019 figures.

In Q3, return on average assets decreased from 0.80 percent to 0.73 percent.  Return on average equity also decreased from 7.58 percent to 5.56 percent.  The bank’s nonperforming credit ratio increased from 0.70 percent to 0.83 percent.

“In Q3, the restructured loans of the bank increased by an additional 984 loans, worth $43.9 million. At the end of Q3, 2024, the total number of restructured loans reached 10,807, amounting to $552.5 million. The share of restructured loans in the total portfolio reached 16.13 percent,” ABA Bank Chairman Yves Jacquot stated.

“At the same time, ABA considers the restructured loans to be of high quality, because 91 percent of them requested a grace period for the loan principal only and continue to repay the interest. This allows the bank to project revenue streams and plan future activities. ABA will continue helping its borrowers to overcome the time of pandemic hardship through its loan restructuring policy,” he added.

ABA Bank’s Q3 report was delayed in being released to the market by two weeks after it requested an extension from the regulator, citing that it could not adhere to the corporate disclosure date because of the “high number of holidays” in the quarter and “moderate concerns about the COVID-19  pandemic”.

According to the “Prakas of Corporate Disclosure”, all listed companies shall submit a quarterly report to the Securities Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) – for review – within 45 days following the end of a quarter before being released publicly by the CSX.

Under existing regulations, if companies miss the deadline without proper and clear explanations, they can face transitional penalties (fines in cash) and/or administration penalties, the SECC has stated.

Speaking yesterday in response to the delayed report, the SECC said it was still undecided [as to whether] it would issue any penalties.

“We [the SECC] are still deciding whether or not the company will be issued any form of penalty over the delayed report”, adding “that the final decision would need to be approved by SECC Chairman Aun Pornmoniroth,” Director-General of the SECC Sou Socheat said.

Socheat has previously said any decisions made by the SECC to issue penalties [would ]depend on the situation, according to Socheat.  He noted that the SECC must also look at whether the company has issued shares or bonds and what the impact of a delay in reporting may have had on the market.

Socheat added, “Regulations can include not only penalties but also potentially warnings or other measures to
correct or adjust company behaviour.”

ABA corporate bonds (assigned the “ABAA22A” symbol) were listed in August 2019.  They were the first offer of debt securities from a commercial bank in Cambodia.

That issue was also the first Cambodian bond with a “B” rating, which was later upgraded to a “B+”, by the S&P Global rating agency. It was the first bond available for institutional and retail investors. The bonds were issued for the total amount of 84.821 billion riels (around $21 million), with a maturity date of three years, paying a coupon of 7.75 percent per annum.

Last year, National Bank of Canada reported it had signed a deal to pay $83.5 million to buy the remaining 10 percent of shares not under its ownership following its 2016 purchase of a 90 percent stake in the bank.

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