A trio of locally-listed firms this week reported sound business performance for the third quarter (Q3) ended September 30, thanks to an ease-up in the Covid-19 pandemic and the entry-exit restrictions in many countries in the region and beyond.

In its filing to the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) on November 17, PRASAC Microfinance Institution Plc reported total assets of $4.73 billion as of September 30, up 16.17 per cent year-on-year. It also registered deposit balance, gross loan portfolio, shareholder’s equity and registered capital of $2.79 billion, $4.24 billion, $808 million and $400 million, respectively.

PRASAC chairman Jun Kwi-sang said in the filing: “During the reporting period, Cambodia’s economy has continued to recover from the Covid-19 situation, with the ‘living with Covid-19’ strategy.

“The country has seen continued positive trade growth, reaching $41 billion by the end of Q3 2022 and exports surpassing $17 billion,” the Korean said.

“Amid the challenging business environment, PRASAC has played its essential part in contributing to sustainable economic development through continuing distributing new loans to its customers.

“PRASAC has also recently participated in providing loans under ‘Tourism Recovery Co-Financing Scheme’ after the success of disbursing $17 million under ‘SME Co-financing Scheme’ in 2020 and 2021, an initiative of the Royal Government of Cambodia to provide affordable loans to SMEs [small- and medium-sized enterprises] to revive the economy.

“PRASAC once again has demonstrated a strong growth on all main parameters, including the total assets, deposits and loans, profit as well as financial technology. We have learned a lot from the challenges of the past several years that made PRASAC become a strong and stable institution for 27 years of sustainable growth,” he added.

PRASAC managed to raise 127.2 billion riel ($31.8 million) in Cambodia’s largest corporate bond issuance to date, on April 24, 2020.

Meanwhile, in its November 14 filing to the CSX, public-listed industrial zone operator Phnom Penh SEZ Plc (PPSP) reported total revenue of 61.067 billion riel in the third quarter, up 154.25 per cent year-on-year, and net profit of 11.329 billion riel, reversing a net loss of 78.533 million riel in the same quarter of 2021.

PPSP non-executive chairman Kith Meng said in the filing: “The financial position of the company remains strong as at 30 September 2022 with total assets amounting [to 465.269 billion riel], comprising non-current assets of [183.598 billion riel] and current assets of [281.671 billion riel].

“Total equity amounted to [257.309 billion riel], an increase of 3.752 per cent compared with [248.003 billion riel] at the year 2021. As a result, debt-to-equity ratio was reported at 0.81X in 2022 compare[d] with 0.72X at the year 2021,” he added.

And in its November 17 filing to the CSX, public-listed state-owned Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) reported total revenues of 91.904 billion riel for the third quarter, down by 20.28 per cent year-on-year. Profit before tax, net income and basic earnings per share came to 34.566 billion riel, 28.012 billion riel and 322.08 riel, respectively.

PPWSA chairwoman Oum Sotha said in the filing: “We can see that the main factor of this decrease in revenue is due to other revenue decreased by about [26.967 billion riel] or 73.15 per cent.

“[This] is due to [the fact that] the exemption of dividend payment to the Ministry [of] Economy and Finance amounted to [36,372 billion riel] in the third quarter of 2021 and net interest expense increased by approximately [6.872 billion riel] or 330.07 per cent,” she explained.