Author: Myanmar Business Today
A motorcyclist outside one of Hayman Capital’s five branche
Photo Credit : Hayman Capital
Microfinance lender Hayman Capital has secured a $1 million loan from Malaysia’s May Bank as part of an ambitious expansion plan to enlarge its loan portfolio and become a market leader.
The company said last week that it was hoping to receive the first tranche of the loan before the start of the Thingyan holiday.
The Singapore-based lender, which set up in Myanmar in 2014, said in January that it aims to double the size of its operation here by the end of 2017.
Deal Street Asia reported last week that bosses were in “active negotiations” with other investors to sign loan agreements worth up to $4 million by April 2018.
“We intend to sign loan agreements of an average of $1 million every quarter,” said managing director and CEO Sultan Marenov.
Between April and December last year the MFI grew its loan portfolio by 129 percent. It aims to double its loan portfolio every year for the next three years.
Hayman Capital’s growth follows the relaxation last August of rules regulating microfinance. The reforms have local and foreign MFIs greater control over accessing loans, where they are allowed to operate and liquidity and solvency rates.
“It’s a good time to invest, particularly in the microfinance industry in Myanmar because the government has done many good things like open up the industry and lay down some good regulations, so they gave us the opportunity to grow,” Marenov told Myanmar Business Today earlier this year.
The deposit-taking lender has about 26,000 customers across it five branches, most of whom are poor entrepreneurs and sole traders or smallholder farmers.
Marenov has said he plans to add 20,000 borrowers this year and another 20,000 in 2018.
The lender is active in Yangon and Bago divisions but plans to expand into Mandalay and Sagaing regions this year.
Its average loan size is about $300 and, like other MFIs in Myanmar, Hayman’s borrowers rarely or never default.
MBT Reporter