ASA International: an under-appreciated gem of a lender

We thought we’d try out a few smaller stock pitches, in the same style as 12 Stocks of Christmas. Hopefully you find it interesting! ASAI is a stock I strongly considered for my annual watchlist this year, so I thought I’d write this up to give it a sort of “honourable mention”.

Disclosure: I do not have a position in ASA International (LON:ASAI).

The Pitch

ASA International describes itself as “one of the world’s largest microfinance institutions”. Headquartered in Amsterdam, it provides “socially responsible financial services to low-income entrepreneurs, most of whom are women, across Asia and Africa”.

The company was founded in 2007 and quickly spread from the Philippines to Sri Lanka, Ghana, India, Pakistan and beyond. Today it operates in 13 countries.

Recent financial results have been very strong, with after-tax net income rising to $29.2m in 2024. $48m was forecast for 2025, but the company informed us in December that it would significantly exceed this amount.

The Big Picture

For a company with such a low market cap, it has some impressive figures:

2.5 million clients with an average outstanding loan across clients of just $182.Geographic diversification:...