Maha Bawga Finance Co., Ltd is revealed plans to be listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX)

Maha Bawga Finance Co is in the process of changing its status to a public company in preparation for a listing on the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX), Daw Pan Pa Pa, financial controller to the company, told The Myanmar Times.

Maha Bawga is a non-bank financial institution licensed by the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM). The company is changing its status as it plans to expand its loan services in 2020, Daw Pan Pa Pa said.

“The company plans to expand its services and reach with more branches to be opened. With this in mind, we plan to convert to a public firm and are also preparing to be listed on the YSX to gain better access to funding and investors,” she said.

Currently, more than 80 percent of the Maha Bawga’s loan book consists of consumer and small business loans. The remaining 20pc are loans with collateral like real estate, cars and land leases. Moving forward, the firm plans to raise the proportion of loans with collateral. 

The CBM first granted licenses to non-bank financial institutions since 2013. As at April this year, there were a total of 26 non-bank financial institutions operating in Myanmar.

With the exception of offering savings accounts and accepting deposits from individuals, non-bank financial institutions are authorised to provide all other financial service offered by banking institutions.

Maha Bawga is planning to expand on the back of rising demand for banking services over the past five years, Daw Pan Pa Pa said. The firm currently has 17,000 borrowers, a number it plans to almost double by 2020. 

If it manages to list on the YSX, Maha Bawga will be the sixth company to join the local bourse and at a time when trading appears to be gaining momentum compared to last year. “Share trading was more active in May compared to late 2018,” said U Thet Tun Oo, senior executive manager of YSX. 

Last month, Ever Flow River Group Public Company (EFR Group), which provides logistics services in Myanmar, also said that it wants to list on the YSX by this year.

EFR Group is listing to gain better access to funds it will need to develop its logistics assets and to strengthen its reputation and corporate governance standards over the longer term, its chair, U Kyaw Lwin Oo, said.

There are currently five companies listed on the YSX: First Myanmar Investment Co, Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings, Myanmar Citizens Bank, First Private Bank and TMH Telecom, which listed on the YSX in February last year. – Translated

(The Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/maha-bawga-reveals-plans-list-local-bourse.html )

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