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Rabat – Morocco’s seventh-largest banking group, CIH Bank, says its operations have registered a 17.1% year-on-year growth, with the bank’s customer increasing from MAD 53.8 ($5.5 billion) in 2020 to MAD 63 billion ($6.4 billion) in 2021.
CIH’s Net Banking Income (NBI), a measure of a bank’s profitability, rose by 12.6% year-on-year, reaching MAD 3.1 billion ($ 319 million) at the end of December 2021, according to the bank’s annual report.
While CIH’s loans increased at an annual rate of 18.1% at the end of 2021, the growth in non-housing loans was especially impressive. The loans progressed at a 28% year-to-year increase, attesting to the bank’s successful diversification strategy, explains the statement.
Non-housing loans made up more than half of all CIH-issued loans at the end of 2021, reaching MAD 41.9 billion ($4.3 billion).
The banking group continued to broaden the range of digital services throughout 2021, with the launching of a new digital service, allowing customers to open bank accounts remotely. The bank also continued to develop existing digital services by adding more features to the online applications CIH Mobile and CIH Net.
CIH Bank’s 2021 strong financial results echo its February stable Fitch rating set at “BB.” The Fitch report especially highlighted that CIH Bank’s growth prospects remain positive despite a limited market share set at 4-5%.
Underlying the positive Fitch assessment is the bank’s successful transition from housing-based loans and having the support of Morocco’s started-owned CDG Capital group as a major shareholder with 67.9%.
Intensive investment in the bank’s digital services is weighing down the bank’s capital, albeit contributing to increasing the bank’s customer deposits, argues the Fitch report.
Read Also: Fitch Maintains Morocco’s CIH Rating At ‘BB’ Stable
