Updated
Moroccan Bank BCP First-Half Profit Up Sharply
Reuters Africa reports on big profits for Moroccan Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP). Moroccan banks are some of the most prominent on the African continent, providing banking services where other banks have neglected:
Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP), one of Morocco’s three biggest banks, said on Wednesday its half-year net profit rose by 12.7 percent to 1.1 billion dirhams ($128.01 million) on the back of a big increase in retail and investment banking income.
The bank also reported a 13 percent increase in bad debts in the first half, partly due to a slowdown in its home market but also due to activities in sub-Saharan countries.
Like other Moroccan banks, Banque Populaire has been expanding south into fast-growing sub-Saharan economies. In 2012, it bought 50 percent of Banque Atlantique, active in Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo…[Full Story]
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