BMCE Bank of Africa, a large commercial bank in Morocco that operates over 560 branches in Africa, reported a 3% rise of its net income to MAD 1.288 million in the first semester of 2017, the group executive managing director, Brahim Benjelloun Touimi, announced on Monday in Casablanca. The first half of the year was characterized by a remarkable performance of Core Business, despite the virtual stagnation of GNP, he explained at a press conference dedicated to the presentation of the group's results at the end of June. Performance is due in particular to «a sustained effort to control risks». He pointed out that the increasing internationalization of the group, as evidenced by the 18% increase in the contribution of international activities, now accounts for 41% of its share of net income, compared to 36% in June 2016. He also noted that the near-stagnation of consolidated NBI (-0.2%), at MAD6,691 million, is related to the decrease in profit on market transactions of -51%, due to exceptional performance last year on bond yields, noting that the increase in the international contribution of + 9% to the consolidated GNP, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, accounts for 44% of the Group's revenues. Benjelloun Touimi said that the growth of the total consolidated balance sheet amounted to + 4.5%, close to 320 billion dirhams, with customer loans representing 60% of the total consolidated balance sheet of 6.7%.
