Maputo, Mozambique, 24 Jan – The four biggest banks operating in Mozambique – Millenium bim, BCI, Standard Bank and Barclays Bank Moçambique – held 89 percent of the market’s total assets at the end of 2009, according to a study by consulting company KPMG Moçambique.

The study, which was presented Wednesday in Maputo, also showed that the Mozambican banking market bucked the trend seen in many countries by posting a good performance for almost all indicators.

Of a total of 13 banks that were assessed (11 retail banks and two microcredit banks) Millennium bim was the leader in four out of five areas that were assessed, specifically, total assets, profit, credit and deposits, and gave up its place to German-owned Procredit, for return on equity.

In terms of profit, Millenium bim posted some 2 billion meticals, after posting around 1.755 billion meticals the previous year, which was growth of 9 percent.

With the exception of Banco Oportunidade and Banco Terra, which posted losses in 2009, the remaining banks all saw their profits increase.

Overall, retail banks operating in Mozambique posted profits in 2009 of 3.6 billion meticals, or the equivalent of US$116.9 million.

In the period, concession of credit grew by 63.85 percent to 70.2 billion meticals (US$2.2 billion) and deposits continued to grow from 76.8 billion meticals in 2008 to 103 billion meticals in 2009.

The study of the banking sector in Mozambique, which is now in its 11th year, is carried out by consulting company KPMG, and the edition presented Wednesday is the ninth that has been carried out in partnership with the Mozambican Association of Banks. (macauhub)