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Banking activity in the first half of 2019 was marked by increasingly fierce competition, resulting in particular in the erosion of bank margins. Outstanding loans to the economy increased by 0.4%. Outstanding resources increased by 15.4%. In this context, the Net Banking Product (NBI) at the end of June 2019 amounted to 24,887 MFCFA, an improvement of 2.6% compared to June 2018. It is marked in particular by increased income on short-term loans term and on Exchange-Cash activities. Management costs amounted to 16,971 MFCFA, down 2.4% compared to June 2018. The Gross Operating Result (GOP) therefore showed a profit of 7,916 MFCFA, an increase of 15 .3% over the reference period; with a cost/income ratio of 68.2% compared to 71.7% at the end of June 2018. The cost of risk amounts to -5,182 MFCFA, in connection with additional provisioning efforts on a few difficult files, particularly in the sectors cocoa and cashew. Net profit was 2,201 MFCFA at the end of June 2019, a decrease of 48% compared to June 2018.

Outlook

The business outlook envisaged for the second half of 2019 should allow us to return to a more significant increase in our revenues and lead to an improvement in Gross Operating Income (GOI) compared to the previous financial year. At the same time, efforts to rationalize management costs will be continued throughout the year with a view to creating a favorable jaws effect on the Gross Operating Result (RBE). The final performance for 2019 could however be impacted by additional provisioning efforts depending on the evolution of some difficult files, in connection with the regulations and the policy of prudence usually observed by the bank.

The general direction

NB: The auditors' report on the sincerity of the information published is available at the company's head office.

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