Spanda Spoorthy opened over 3% higher today at Rs.425 and soon hit the 5% UC at Rs.432.50. There were only bids and no offers.

The company had truly some good news to share. It said:

794 out of Spandana’s 1,006 branches (79%) are in Green zones – all of these have been operational since 20 April 2020 o Given carefully calibrated rural footprint, first MFI to have such a large proportion of branches already active – places us in unique position to benefit from first-mover advantage for both collections and new business, ahead of rest of industry

Rest of branches expected to open soon, following the lifting of the national lockdown – almost none in “Red” zones, given our rural footprint

Spandana’s borrower base not as significantly impacted by Covid19 vs. most peers due to company’s rural focus -  91% of borrowers are in rural areas (which fortunately have little or no Covid19 incidence), and 57% engage in “essential services” activities such as dairy or agricultural activities – hence their health and cash flows are largely intact, as verified by our loan officers post our resumptions of operations

Average ticket size of its loans is Rs. 23,940 vs Rs. 37,465 for the industry – which means its borrowers are better positioned to cover a missed installment vs other

Most borrowers reached out to have been willing to pay, and company has collected over Rs.13.3 cr in the last one week despite the tight restrictions in operations.

Significantly more collections expected in coming weeks, as rest of field staff returns, and the remaining branches open