F88 successfully raised 50 million USD from Lending Ark Asia fund

The loan worth more than VND 1,200 billion is the second loan that F88 received from the Lending Ark Asia fund after the first loan also worth 50 million USD in November 2022, bringing the total loan amount that Lending Ark granted to F88 to 100 million USD.

“ The new credit will be used to promote F88's business growth plan ,” said Mr. Phung Anh Tuan, Chairman and General Director of F88.

“ With this capital, F88 aims to expand the provision of financial services that meet service standards, are easy and transparent for the sub-bank customer base in Vietnam. F88 strongly believes and expects that its products and services will continue to help improve the financial capacity of customers, thereby contributing to the overall development of the Vietnamese economy .”

F88 successfully raised 50 million USD from Lending Ark Asia fund - 1

As for Lending Ark Asia, this is a unit that always applies a strict and comprehensive credit appraisal process to its loans, and is especially careful when evaluating contents such as market potential, business strategy, risk management capacity, legal compliance capacity, service quality, community contributions... in the business and operational activities of the enterprise.

The approval of the second additional loan limit of 50 million USD has demonstrated the trust and expectation that Lending Ark Asia has for F88 in particular and for the potential of the subprime lending market in Vietnam in general.

In the first half of 2023, despite facing many challenges, F88's business activities still maintained stable growth. Revenue in the first 6 months of 2023 increased by 52% compared to the same period in 2022. With the provision of diverse services, the total number of customers as of June 30, 2023 increased by 30% compared to the end of 2022.

Customer satisfaction rate after transaction (CSAT) reached 89%. The ratio of operating expenses (CIR) (operating expenses excluding bad debt provision and write-off expenses) to total operating income (excluding financial expenses) in the first 6 months of 2023 decreased by 16% compared to the same period in 2022.

The company also paid VND1,250 billion in principal and interest on bonds to investors on time. At the same time, the debt-to-equity ratio (D/E ratio) was maintained safely at around 1.0 times. These positive indicators are the basis for Fiin Ratings to continue maintaining the credit rating at BBB- for F88, even in the current volatile market situation.

Explaining the unprofitable business results in the first half of 2023, Mr. Tuan shared that it was largely due to increased risk costs when the company applied a rather cautious policy of setting aside bad debt reserves compared to usual practices.

Regarding market potential, based on positive economic forecasts for the second half of 2023, in addition to maintaining stable business growth, F88 expects to seize opportunities to expand its customer base to continue to accelerate in the coming time.

Bao Anh

Source