Group Lease Public Company Limited (“the Company”) would like to announce BGMM received permission to take deposits in Myanmar as follows:

BG Microfinance Myanmar Company Limited (“BGMM”), GL’s microfinance subsidiary in Myanmar, has received permission from the Myanmar government authorities to take voluntary deposits from individuals after having three years of continued operations and at least two years of continued profitability. BGMM is the first GL subsidiary to have obtained permission to take deposits. This will give BGMM another source of funds that is both low-cost and in the local currency, the Myanmar Kyat, reducing the need for funding from GL. As BGMM continues to grow, the BGMM will take advantage of this new offering to attract more customers and strengthen its ability to increase income while also reducing the exchange risk of the Company.

BGMM has already seen strong growth since it was acquired by GL. BGMM more than tripled the amount of loans being disbursed each month in only four months from MMK 311 million in February 2017 to MMK 1,134 million in June 2017. That has driven BGMM’s total loan portfolio to more than double from MMK 1,890 million to MMK 3,876 million during that time, in large part due to BGMM’s ability to attract new customers from only 10,479 in February 2017 to 21,101 by June 2017. At BGMM and GL, we look forward to continuing to grow and helping the Myanmar people.