Reuters
Morocco’s BMCE Bank said its net profit rose 18 percent to 1.1 billion dirhams ($114 million) in the first half of 2015, boosted by lower net provisions for bad loans.
Along with other Moroccan lenders the bank has in the last few years faced a rise in bad loans in its domestic market and in Sub-Saharan Africa.
BMCE’s net provisions fell to 806 million dirhams, down 24 percent from a year earlier as the bank recovered more than 700 million dirhams of provisions.
BMCE posted 7.3 billion in bad debts, up from 6.8 billion at the end of 2014, which it met with more than 1.46 billion dirhams of provisions.
Consolidated net banking income rose 6 percent to 5.9 billion dirhams in the first half compared with the same period in 2014, it said in a statement on Monday.
Return on equity (ROE) rose to 13.9 percent from 13.7 percent at the end of the year.
In 2013, it became the first private financial institution from North Africa to issue bonds on international capital markets, raising $300 million.
The bank said 64 percent of its profit came from Morocco, 28 percent of its profit came from elsewhere in Africa and 8 percent from Europe.
BMCE is preparing to launch an Islamic subsidiary after the Moroccan parliament approved a bill regulating Islamic banks and sukuk issues.
