First semester 2003 results

RNS Number:6157Q
Banque Marocaine Du Commerce Exteri
07 October 2003


FINANCIAL COMMUNICATION

FIRST SEMESTER 2003 RESULTS -AGGREGATED ACTIVITY-
BMCE BANK
GROSS OPERATING INCOME +31.1%
NET BANKING INCOME +7.7%


The BMCE Bank Board of Directors meeting was held on September 26th, 2003,
chaired by Mr Othman BENJELLOUN, at the Bank's head office. It examined the
bank's activity during the first semester 2003 as well as the related accounts.


In addition, the Board of Directors unanimously adopted the principle of sealing
a partnership of economic, financial and societal dimension with the Groupe
Caisse d'Epargne -GCE-. The industrial aspect of this partnership is related to
an equity participation, through the acquisition of 20% stake by GCE in the
Capital of BMCE Bank, as stated in the letter of intent dated September 25th,
2003, sent by the chairman of GCE to the chairman of BMCE Bank.


This transaction is subject to the agreement of the monetary and regulatory
authorities, whose decision making bodies will meet soon. After the final
signature of the partnership between the two banks, it is agreed that this
equity holding in the capital of BMCE Bank would be acquired by GCE at 500
dirhams per share.


Financial performances on a sustained rise thanks to the banking activity growth
and overheads monitoring.


Financial Highlights


+7.7% increase in the Net Banking Income, to 1.14 billion MAD as of June 30,
2003 against 1.06 billion MAD as of end-June 2002, thanks in particular to the
rise of the net interest income (+6.6%)


-3.5% decrease in the general operating expenses, inducing around 6 percentage
points improvement in the cost to income ratio that went down from 54.87% to
49.14%.


+31.1% rise in the Gross Operating Income due to overheads monitoring and the
favourable growth of the operating banking activity.


250 million MAD of net allowances for provisions, reflecting an ongoing effort
of cleansing the loan portfolio and consolidating the risk covering policy.


+28% increase in net income, to 244.6 million MAD as of June 30, 2003 compared
to 191.2 million MAD as of June 30, 2002.


+11.9% and +2.4% growths of customer loans and deposits, respectively.


+4.8% growth of total assets, from 51.7 billion MAD to 54.2 billion MAD over the
period June 2002-2003.


Positive Commercial Performances


BMCE Bank's retail activity, through the achievements of the Retail bank and the
implementation of a customer focused organisation and strategy, consolidated its
growth trend, as shown in the rise of indicators such as (i) the number of
customer accounts with 26,000 new accounts opened, (ii) the Bank's distribution
network reinforced with 6 new branches, (iii) the number of bancassurance
contracts with a +36,7% increase and (iv) the number of electronic payment cards
with a +14.9% growth.


The investment bank activities had benefited from the set up of a reinforced
specialisation of business lines. The result indicators of the Division
maintained their growth at a sustained rate.


As regards to international activities, BMCE Bank proceeded to the opening of a
desk in Madrid dedicated to the Moroccan Expatriates activity and the starting
of BMCE Capital Dakar.


Project Enterprise


BMCE Bank launched a large-scale project enterprise, "CAP CLIENT", focused on
the organisation of distribution network, the process, as well as the managerial
and commercial practices for distribution.


Public Offer reserved to BMCE Bank staff


Within the policy of profit sharing and motivation of its staff, BMCE Bank
launched on February 2003 a public offer, exclusively reserved to the Group's
staff and representing 4.72% of its capital.



                                   BMCE BANK
                    AGGREGATED ACCOUNTS AS OF JUNE 30, 2003


ASSETS                                              06/30/2003      06/30/2002

CASH, CENTRAL BANKS, TREASURY, GIRO ACCOUNTS         3 352 727       2 573 176

LOANS TO CREDIT INSTITUTIONS AND EQUIVALENT          8 236 517       8 353 308
. Demand                                             1 038 950       1 572 719
. Time                                               7 197 567       6 780 589

LOANS AND ADVANCES TO CUSTOMERS                     24 677 728      22 055 965
. Cash and consumer loans                           14 439 603      13 087 810
. Equipment loans                                    5 492 491       5 118 509
. Mortgage loans                                     1 357 880         762 262
. Other loans                                        3 387 754       3 087 384

ADVANCES ACQUIRED BY FACTORING

TRANSACTION AND MARKETABLE SECURITIES               10 769 092      12 289 629
. Treasury bonds and equivalent securities           6 940 010       6 440 776
. Other debt securities                              2 482 106       2 515 585
. Title deeds                                        1 346 976       3 333 268

OTHER ASSETS                                         1 569 703       1 128 319

INVESTMENT SECURITIES                                  606 625         378 418
. Treasury bonds and equivalent securities
. Other debt securities                                      0         378 418

EQUITY INVESTMENT AND EQUIVALENT USES                3 950 980       3 933 493

SUBORDINATED LOANS

FIXED ASSETS LEASED AND RENTED

INTANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS                                 59 486          54 432

TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS                                  960 947         931 478

TOTAL ASSETS                                        54 183 805      51 698 218



LIABILITIES                                           06/30/2003    06/30/2002

CENTRAL BANKS, TREASURY, GIRO ACCOUNTS

LIABILITIES TO CREDIT INSTITUTIONS AND EQUIVALENT      7 520 787     6 375 857
. Demand                                                 800 948     1 760 376
. Time                                                 6 719 839     4 615 481

CUSTOMER DEPOSITS                                     40 134 580    39 186 125
. Demand deposits                                     18 931 030    16 472 472
. Savings deposits                                     7 140 643     6 570 951
. Time deposits                                       10 170 110    11 495 492
. Other deposits                                       3 892 797     4 647 210

DEBT SECURITIES ISSUED
. Negotiable debt securities
. Bond loans
. Other debt securities issued

OTHER LIABILITIES                                      1 100 359       807 977

CONTINGENT LIABILITIES                                   168 990       173 402

REGULATED PROVISIONS                                           0           382

SUBSIDIES, ASSIGNED PUBLIC FUNDS AND SPECIAL
GUARANTEE FUNDS

SUBORDINATED DEBTS

REVALUATION RESERVE

RESERVES AND PREMIUMS RELATED TO CAPITAL               3 360 267     3 336 054

CAPITAL                                                1 587 514     1 587 514

SHAREHOLDERS. UNPAID-UP CAPITAL

RETAINED EARNINGS (+/-)                                       91            34

NET EARNING BEING APPROPRIATED (+/-)                      66 568        39 711

NET EARNING FOR THE YEAR (+/-)                           244 649       191 162

TOTAL LIABILITIES                                     54 183 805    51 698 218



OFF-BALANCE SHEET                                     06/30/2003    06/30/2002

GIVEN COMMITMENTS                                     10 376 829    12 091 943

Financing commitments on behalf of credit              1 224 440     2 015 426
institutions and equivalent
Financing commitments on behalf of customers           3 069 214     3 054 204
Guarantee commitments given to credit institutions     1 827 783     2 619 717
and equivalent
Guarantee commitments given to customers               4 255 392     4 402 596
Securities repos purchased
Other securities to be delivered

RECEIVED COMMITMENTS                                     608 566       591 561

                                       
Financing commitments received from credit
institutions and equivalent
Guarantee commitments received from credit               569 342       547 043
institutions and equivalent
Guarantee commitments received from the State and         39 224        44 518
various guarantee bodies
Securities repos sold
Other securities to be received


I- EARNING FORMATION TABLE                            06/30/2003    06/30/2002
                                        
+ Interests and assimilated revenues                   1 162 657     1 198 920
- Interests and assimilated expenses                     397 667       481 041
                                        
Interest Margin                                          764 990       717 879

+ Revenues from leased and rented fixed assets
- Expenses on leased and rented fixed assets

Profit from leasing and renting operations

+ Fees received                                          184 116       188 787
- Fees paid                                               18 907        16 795

Margin on fees                                           165 209       171 992

+ Income from operations on transaction securities
--------------------------------------------------
+ Income from transactions on marketable securities      126 338        72 968
---------------------------------------------------
+ Income from exchange transactions                       26 186        60 985
-----------------------------------
+ Income from derivatives transactions                     1 084        -5 807
--------------------------------------

Income from market transactions                          153 608       128 146

+ Other miscellaneous banking revenues                    91 464        72 198
- Other miscellaneous banking expenses                    34 210        31 136

NET BANKING INCOME                                     1 141 061     1 059 079

+ Net income from equity investments                       1 850       -33 647
------------------------------------
+ Other non-banking operating revenues                     8 621         6 899
- Other non-banking operating expenses                     5 262         4 766
- General operating expenses                             560 763       581 094

GROSS OPERATING INCOME                                   585 507       446 471

+ Allowances for non performing loans and commitments 
(net of write backs)                                    -249 683      -186 528

+ Other allowances net of provision write-backs                0         2 471

CURRENT INCOME                                           335 824       262 414

NON-CURRENT INCOME

- Corporate tax                                           91 175        71 252

NET EARNINGS FOR THE YEAR                                244 649       191 162

II- CASH-FLOW

+ NET EARNING FOR THE YEAR
--------------------------                                

+ Allowances for depreciation and provisions for intangible 
and tangible fixed assets                                  58415         57147

+ Allowances for provisions for equity investments 
depreciation                                                   0         33647

+ Allowances for provisions for general risks

+ Allowances for regulated provisions

+ Non-current allowances

- Provisions write-backs                                    3634         -2441

- Capital gains on disposals of intangible and 
tangible fixed assets                                        845           298

+ Capital losses on disposals of intangible and tangible 
fixed assets                                                   0         1 449

- Capital gains on disposals of equity investments             

+ Capital losses on disposals of equity investments          331

- Write-backs of investment subsidies received

+ FINANCING CAPACITY                                     298 916       280 666
--------------------

- Dividends distributed

+ CASH-FLOW                                              298 916       280 666
-----------



 FIRST SEMESTER 2002       SECOND SEMESTER 2002         FIRST SEMESTER 2002
      2 012 156                 1 750 074                    1 873 825



                       JUNE 30, 2003                        JUNE 30, 2002
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOANS            AMOUNTS     PROVISIONS AND        AMOUNTS      PROVISIONS AND
                             DOUBTFUL INTERESTS              DOUBTFUL INTERESTS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUBSTANDARD       1 287                             2 733                 325
LOANS
DOUBTFUL          76 862        76 012            215 557             155 870
LOANS
LOSS LOANS      2 263 250    1 500 494          1 907 273           1 172 519

        TOTAL   2 341 399    1 576 506          2 125 563           1 328 714
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                  BANQUE MAROCAINE DU COMMERCE EXTERIEUR-BANK
                                   BMCE BANK

                     ATTESTATION OF THE STATUTORY AUDITORS
                       FROM JANUARY 1st TO JUNE 30, 2003


According to article 17 of the Dahir related to the law ndegrees 1-93-212 of 
September 21st, 1993, we have conducted a limited review of the interim balance 
sheetsituation of the   Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur  "BMCE Bank" for 
the first semester running from January 1st to June 30, 2003, as well as the
turnover amounts.


We conducted our limited review in accordance with the professional standards
and given the prevailing legal and statutory conditions.


An allowance for general risks, featured as a voluntary reserve and previously
constituted after tax for an amount of MAD 150 millions, is now considered to
cover different identified risks. Thus, this allowance is no longer considered
as shareholder's equity.


On the basis of our limited review and except from the matter mentioned in the
paragraph above, we did not identify any fact likely to affect, significantly,
the sincerity of information contained in these documents.


Casablanca, September 23, 2003.


                                Statutory Auditors


ERNST & YOUNG                                   KPMG
Hamad JOUAHRI                                   Jamal Saad EL IDRISSI
Partner                                         Partner




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