Last year will be remembered in Madagascar not just because of the disappearance of the Malagasy franc, replaced by the new currency, the ariary, on January 1, 2005, but also because the island was struck by two devastating cyclones in quick succession. It was a heavy blow on top of inflation and balance-of-trade consequences resulting from exchange rate depreciation.
Despite economic uncertainty, Bank of Africa Madagascar was able to deliver a 55% increase in profits to 36.2bn Malagasy franc ($4m). This came on the back of a 29% increase in total assets.
2004 was the first year of a three-year development plan for the bank, which will see modernisation of the branch network, including investment in the physical structures, IT systems and other equipment. The pay-off was already evident by the end of the year, with deposits growing by 28% in addition to the rise in assets.
“There is strong competition in the Malagasy banking sector with seven banking institutions, so the results in 2004 represent another strong year coming after the exceptional performance in 2003 [when profits rose 131%],” says director general Alain Lepatre Lamontagne.
