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RABAT, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Attijariwafa Bank, one of Morocco's biggest lenders, reported on Wednesday a 7.9 percent rise in its first-half net profit to 2.49 billion Moroccan dirhams ($260 million).
Traders and analysts in Casablanca said the results slightly beat expectations. Attijari's shares rose only 0.1 percent, held back by concern over the broader outlook for the Moroccan market.
Profit growth was boosted by a decrease in risk costs related to bad loans in its domestic market and to its expansion in sub-Saharan African markets.
Attijari said total risk costs estimated at 1.1 billion dirhams fell 5 percent from the end of 2015 and provisions covered 72.2 percent of bad loans, up from 71.8 percent at the end of the year.
The bank said it had set aside an additional 1.4 billion dirhams in provisions, down from 1.6 billion in the same period a year earlier.
Net banking income was up 3.5 percent at 10.1 billion dirhams as revenues and margins improved, the Casablanca-based bank said in a statement.
Interest margins rose 0.2 percentage points while return on equity (ROE), a widely followed gauge of profitability for banks, was 15.5 percent, up 0.9 percentage points from the same period last year.
"The bank took advantage of interest rate cuts by the central bank but competition puts pressure on its interest margin," an analyst in Casablanca stock exchange said.
Attijariwafa has subsidiaries in Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Cameroon, Gabon and Congo Brazzaville, plus branches in Europe catering mainly to Moroccans living there.
The bank, controlled by Moroccan royal family holding SNI, said consolidated loans rose by 3.8 percent and total deposits rose by 5.1 percent to 264.2 and 393.6 billion dirhams respectively.
Attijariwafa says it has the largest branch network in Morocco and Africa with 3,376 branches across 23 countries, up from 3,331 in 2014.
($1 = 9.6817 Moroccan dirhams)
(Reporting By Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Greg Mahlich/Ruth Pitchford) ((aziz.elyaakoubi@thomsonreuters.com; +212623934595)(;))
RABAT, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Attijariwafa Bank, one of Morocco's biggest lenders, reported on Wednesday a 7.9 percent rise in its first-half net profit to 2.49 billion Moroccan dirhams ($260 million).
Traders and analysts in Casablanca said the results slightly beat expectations. Attijari's shares rose only 0.1 percent, held back by concern over the broader outlook for the Moroccan market.
Profit growth was boosted by a decrease in risk costs related to bad loans in its domestic market and to its expansion in sub-Saharan African markets.
Attijari said total risk costs estimated at 1.1 billion dirhams fell 5 percent from the end of 2015 and provisions covered 72.2 percent of bad loans, up from 71.8 percent at the end of the year.
The bank said it had set aside an additional 1.4 billion dirhams in provisions, down from 1.6 billion in the same period a year earlier.
Net banking income was up 3.5 percent at 10.1 billion dirhams as revenues and margins improved, the Casablanca-based bank said in a statement.
Interest margins rose 0.2 percentage points while return on equity (ROE), a widely followed gauge of profitability for banks, was 15.5 percent, up 0.9 percentage points from the same period last year.
"The bank took advantage of interest rate cuts by the central bank but competition puts pressure on its interest margin," an analyst in Casablanca stock exchange said.
Attijariwafa has subsidiaries in Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Cameroon, Gabon and Congo Brazzaville, plus branches in Europe catering mainly to Moroccans living there.
The bank, controlled by Moroccan royal family holding SNI, said consolidated loans rose by 3.8 percent and total deposits rose by 5.1 percent to 264.2 and 393.6 billion dirhams respectively.
Attijariwafa says it has the largest branch network in Morocco and Africa with 3,376 branches across 23 countries, up from 3,331 in 2014.
($1 = 9.6817 Moroccan dirhams)
(Reporting By Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Greg Mahlich/Ruth Pitchford) ((aziz.elyaakoubi@thomsonreuters.com; +212623934595)(;))
