July 12th, 2010
Phnom Penh
PROFITS at Cambodia’s fifth-largest microfinance institution Angkor Mikroheranhvatho Kampuchea grew 56 percent to US$322,000 during the second quarter, compared with $206,000 for the first quarter of the year.
“Quarter-on-quarter profit growth is due to an increase in the size of the loan portfolio and a drop in the rate of bad loans,” AMK CEO Paul Luchtenburg said yesterday.
The firm’s outstanding loans totalled $28.3 million at the end of June, up 8 percent from $26.2 million at the end of the first quarter, he said, and its rate of non-performing loans fell to 2.54 percent for the latest quarter, from 2.76 percent previously.
“The drop in non-performing loans was due to continued efforts to work with clients,” he said. He also said the firm had not written off any bad debts in the last three years, apart from clients who had died.
He added that the firm is committed to cutting its NPL rate to less than 2 percent by year’s end. AMK’s outstanding portfolio would continue growing until the end of the year, he said, as the firm extended loans to remote areas it presently does not serve. Read more »
July 9th, 2010
Phnom Penh
The total amount of deposits in Cambodia’s 28 banking institutions recorded a jump in the first part of the year, a positive sign of recovery following the 2008 economic crisis, an industry leader said Monday.
Banks posted $3.6 billion in deposits in the first five months of the year, a 13 percent increase from the same period in 2009. Loan disbursements increase 8 percent, to $2.7 billion, for the same period.
That’s a signal of healthier banks, In Channy, CEO of Acleda Bank, a leading lender in Cambodia, told “Hello VOA” Monday.
“2009 was a very hard time for us, where we had large deposits but little lending,” he said. “But this is a good sign this year, when our economy is going better and the demand for loans is growing.”
Agriculture, garments and tourism were all driving growth in the economy, he said.
One concern, however, is that the banking sector has not grown at pace with the country’s total GDP. Read more »
July 9th, 2010
Phnom Penh
After nearly a decade of government efforts to de-dollarize its economy, Cambodia remains one of the most heavily dollarized economies in the world.
The greenback is used in nearly 90 percent of transactions, alongside the riel, and experts say this won’t change without more administrative reform.
Meanwhile, people’s trust in the riel has been shaken by recent inflation, making the dollar, which was introduced during the UN’s rebuilding efforts, more attractive.
There are of course benefits to dollarization. It attracts foreign investment, stabilizes the exchange rate and prevents devaluation of the riel while promoting growth in the banking sector.
But dollarization also undermines monetary policies conducted by the central bank, limiting its role as a lender of last resort and creating losses in revenue from the printing and issuing of new currency.
Such losses cost the government between $20 million and $90 million annually. Read more »
July 8th, 2010
Phnom Penh
THE final length of a US$17.6 million fibre-optic telecommunications network linking Cambodia with other Greater Mekong Subregion countries began operation yesterday.
Officials say the new 651-kilometre transmission line to Laos will increase the Kingdom’s communication speeds by linking the country to a regional backbone already connecting Thailand, China, Vietnam and Laos.
“This will improve living conditions for people in the GSM countries, as the entire network is now in place,” Minister of Posts and Telecommunications So Khun said at the launch yesterday.
Part of the GMS Information Superhighway project, the latest links were built by Chinese telecommunications equipment supplier Huawei Technologies for a total of $17.6 million, according to a project summary. The links have a network capacity of 2.5 gigabytes per second.
So Khun said construction was financed by a soft loan from China’s state-owned Export-Import Bank, and that the new network was under the control of Telecom Cambodia and Enterprise Telecom Laos. Read more »
July 8th, 2010
Phnom Penh
Former singer, Sem Thaina, recording for M Production left Bigman Production and has returned to M Production. leaving Bigman Production was not conflict between her and production owner. Read more »
July 8th, 2010
Phnom Penh
Cambodia’s commercial banks have steadily increased their deposit and loan bases over the first five months of this year, with deposits collectively growing 12 percent and loans 8 percent since the end of 2009, according to figures from the National Bank of Cambodia yesterday.
In Channy, Acleda president and chief executive, said the growth was a clear sign of the Kingdom’s recovery from the financial crisis.
The NBC figures show that between January and May this year, Cambodia’s commercial bank deposits rose 12 percent to $3.69 billion while lending increased 8 percent to $2.7 billion compared to the total at December 31.
At the end of last year, commercial bank deposits were $3.3 billion, and loans were $2.51 billion, according to the NBC’s report.
Although the Kingdom has 28 commercial banks, retail deposits and lending are concentrated in four: Acleda Bank, Cambodian Public Bank, Canadia Bank, and ANZ Royal Bank. Read more »
July 8th, 2010
Phnom Penh
MOBILE operator qb has begun its planned expansion to cover Cambodia’s entire population by the end of the year, according to CEO Alan Sinfield.
Service provided by qb, one of Cambodia’s smaller operators by subscribers, was now limited to Phnom Penh and six or seven other metropolitan areas, he told the Post.
“It’s going to be hard to achieve [100 percent population coverage], but certainly that’s our main goal,” he said, though he declined to disclose the cost of the expansion or the number of towers to be added.
He did say it would involve a “substantial build”.
Although many experts say the Kingdom’s mobile sector is overcrowded, with nine active providers, Sinfield said the ongoing plans were inspired by enthusiasm from parent firm Cambodian Advance Communications.
“Our investors view Cambodia as a developing country very positively, seeing great potential, and are keen to be a part of this,” he said. He declined to reveal investors’ identities.
Sinfield said that after he took the helm in March the firm began a two- or three-month period of assessment of the Cambodian market.
“We know our niche, and we are focusing on it. Basically, we’re looking to deliver quality of network, and availability, to customers.” Read more »
