Moroccan mortgage lender 'hoping for 2010 resurgence'

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Moroccan mortgage lender 'hoping for 2010 resurgence'

18 Mar 2010

Moroccan mortgage lender CIH is seeking to cut costs and return to an estimated ten per cent profitability figure in 2010.

Shares tumbled this week after the firm reported an 83 per cent drop in net profits during 2009, reports Reuters.

Having almost collapsed in the 1990s – due to a series of loans to the real estate and tourism sectors which were never repaid – the company was restructured by local banks, with a resulting gradual improvement in revenues.

Targets for 2014 include cutting the cost-to-income ratio in half from the current figure of 60 per cent to the new target of 30 per cent, the news provider said.

CIH also plans to reduce the concentration on mortgages from its current level of 90 per cent of all business to an eventual figure of 50 per cent by diversifying into investment banking, leasing and small business lending.

A report by Middle East North Africa Financial Network earlier this month said Morocco could no longer rely on tourism and foreign investments to offset other struggling areas of the economy. ADNFCR-1127-ID-19677066-ADNFCR