The first corporate bond is issued for Kredo Finance with the help of ABI Bank

2024-05-11 09:21:00, Ekonomi CNA

Kredo Finance and ABI Bank successfully completed the process of issuing corporate bonds with a private offer of Kredo Finance sh.pk

One of the fastest growing actors in the market in the last 5 years, Kredo Finance, issues corporate bonds for the first time in the market. This is important news for the microfinance market, which during the last few years has received a significant development and at the end of 2023 it has reached 440 million euros in total portfolio, which is financed only 0.4 percent by corporate bonds.

During this process, ABI Bank acted as the underwriter of the corporate bond, assisting throughout the entire process of drafting the documentation, obtaining the relevant approvals from the regulatory authorities and launching the instrument on the market.

Also, ABI provided full financial support of the bond at the level of 300 million ALL with a 3-year term.
Kredo Finance is part of Eleving Group companies and has been operating in the microfinance sector since 2017.

The company has experienced a steady growth during these years, managing to own a loan portfolio of 47 million euros at the end of 2023.

ABI Bank at the end of 2023 reported total assets of 1.23 billion euros. Arlinda Muja, General Director of Kredo Finance, says: "We are very pleased that traditional financial institutions are now more easily accessing the financing of non-bank financial institutions in the FinTech sector. I firmly believe that this is a historic moment, which it would not have been possible without the support and foresight of ABI Bank.

Giving this trust will continue to contribute to our further growth and development. Until now, the company has been financed mainly with its own funds, but recently the interest of institutional investors has increased, which comes at a time when Kredo Finance has managed to consolidate its positions in the market and has successfully passed the start-up phase.

Issuing the bond is a very important step as the company is valued not only for financial performance, but also for the quality of management, transparency with customers, as well as the reputation of the company in the Albanian market.

It is worth noting that lending to non-bank financial institutions by the banking system is quite low and continues to be treated with prejudice regarding the risks that this sector carries, while these institutions operate in a highly regulated environment and a constant supervision by regulatory authority. Issuing bonds paves the way for direct interaction between individual investors and microfinance institutions, thus increasing the supply of financing for this sector, as well as providing investment alternatives for individuals".

General Director of ABI Bank, Mr. Andi Ballta said that "Corporate bonds are expected to provide an excellent expansion opportunity for Albanian companies and are also a very good investment alternative for Albanian depositors. Kredo has shown a high portfolio growth and is a leader in microcredit.

At Kredo we found a very professional team and we welcome similar collaborations in the future."/ CNA