NIC Asia Capital to bring mutual fund worth Rs 1 arba; receives AMC Quality 3 rating

Mon, Jul 17, 2017 5:04 PM on Latest, Featured, Stock Market,
  NIC Asia Capital Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of NIC Asia Bank Limited, has been assigned Fund Management Quality Rating of “[ICRANP] AMC Quality 3 (AMC3) (pronounced ICRA NP Assets Management Company Quality Three) by ICRA Nepal Limited. Entities with AMC3 are adjudged to provide adequate assurance on management quality. The rating has duly factor the ownership and technical support received by the Capital from the NIC ASIA Bank, adequately established organization structure, and back ground of fund supervisors. The Capital is in process of bringing a mutual fund of Rs. 1 arba which is under approval process with Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON). NIC ASIA Capital Limited has been providing full-fledged Merchant Banking Services including Depository Participants (DP), Portfolio Management Services (PMS), Registrar to Shares (RTS), and advisory services to its clients. Likewise, NIC Asia Bank Limited has also been assigned the Issuer Rating of "[ICRA NP - IR] A- (pronounced ICRA NP Issuer Rating A Minus)”.[ICRA NP - IR] A- Rating is considered as adequate credit quality rating, and the rated entity carries average credit risk. Among the various factors considered for assigning the above rating, it has largely factored the Bank's established track record of 19 years, operating since 1998 and diversified franchise, good market positioning in Nepal with around 4% share in industry credit and deposits. The ratings also factor adequate capitalisation levels, Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 13.69% as on mid-Apr- 17, decline in gross NPLs of the bank from 2.07% as on mid-Jul-15 to 0.46% as on mid-Apr-17 and the ability to improve profitability profile, return on assets of 1.78% and return on equity around 18% for third quarter ended FY 2016/17 vs. 1.51% and around 17% for FY16 despite increment in capital base as per Nepal Rastra Bank's requirement. It also takes note of Bank’s shifting focus towards retail and SME lending resulting in increment in their portfolio share of around 72% as of Jan-17 vs. around 57% on Jan-16 and aiding improvement in granularity of credit portfolio of around 15% among top 20 borrower groups as of Jan-17 vs. around 21% on Jan-16. NIC Asia Bank’s branch network has reached to 119, ATMs 70 and 4 extension counters, serving the customers with one of the largest footprints across the country.