RABAT, March 21 (Reuters) - Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP), one of Morocco's three biggest lenders, reported a 5.3 percent rise in net profit attributable to shareholders in 2016 to 2.64 billion dirhams ($265 million).

The increase was due to greater banking activity in its international subsidiaries, the lender said in a statement on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Samia Errazzouki, editing by Louise Heavens) ((Aidan.Lewis@thomsonreuters.com ; +216-29850352;))