Reuters
Morocco’s BMCE Bank posted a 58 percent rise in 2014 net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.94 billion Moroccan dirhams ($195.63 million) on growth in its domestic and Sub-Saharan African markets.
However, profit was held back by provisions set aside to counter bad debt. Its risk costs reached 1.8 billion dirhams, up 37 percent.
Some of that was generated in Sub-Saharan Africa where it has been developing aggressively while bad loans are also in Morocco after years of economic turmoil following the financial crisis and Arab spring.
Total bad loans rose to 6.9 billion dirhams from 6.3 billion dirham at the end of 2013, data from the bank showed.
Net banking income rose 16 percent to 11.5 billion dirhams, while operating profit rose 27 percent up to 5 billion.
Return on equity (ROE) rose to 13.7 percent from 9 percent.
Sub-Saharan subsidiaries Bank of Africa, La Congolaise de Banque and Banque de Developpement du Mali contributed 27 percent of BMCE’s profit, it said.
The bank proposed a dividend of 4.4 dirhams per share, up from 4 dirham.
In 2013, the bank became the first private financial institution from North Africa to issue bonds in international capital markets.
Along with other Moroccan banks, BMCE is preparing to launch an Islamic subsidiary as parliament has approved a bill regulating Islamic banks and sukuk issues.
($1 = 9.9309 Moroccan dirham)
(Reporting By Aziz El Yaakoubi; editing by Louise Heavens and Jason Neely)
