Maputo, May 22, 2026 (Lusa) - Public debt exposure caused a sharp drop in the 2025 profits of Mozambique’s commercial bank Millennium BIM, owned by Portugal's BCP bank, to 201 million meticais (€2.7 million), the annual report shows.
The bank had reported profits of 3.309 billion meticais (€44.6 million) in 2024.
In the document, the management of the bank—one of Mozambique's two systemic banks (institutions critical to the financial system), with nearly 2.3 million customers—states that it had to set aside 5.9 billion meticais (€79.5 million) in "impairments for Mozambique's public debt."
The report points to the effects of the downgrade of Mozambique's sovereign debt rating, which required "the recognition of additional impairments associated with public debt, with significant impacts on the evolution of results" for the bank.
An "increase in credit impairment" also drove the sharp profit drop in 2025, following a 54% decline in 2024 compared to the 2023 net result of 7.211 billion meticais (€97.2 million).
This increase resulted from "a higher probability of default by certain customer segments," influenced by "the adverse macroeconomic context and the reassessment of internal risk models."
The bank decided to allocate its 2025 profits to free and legal reserves without distributing dividends, repeating its 2024 strategy.
Its banking revenue grew 6.5% in 2025 to 19.229 billion meticais (€259.2 million), while total assets fell 0.53% to 200.877 billion meticais (€2.708 billion).
Net loans to customers rose 9.14% to 49.288 billion meticais (€664 million), and customer deposits grew 2.65% to 160.935 billion meticais (€2.169 billion), while equity remained virtually stagnant at 34.632 billion meticais (€467 million).
The annual report shows that 2.68% of the bank's total loans were in default in December.
This ratio fell from 2.92% in 2024, 3.08% in 2023, and 7.85% in 2022.
However, non-performing loans overdue by more than 90 days covered by impairments grew from 144.66% to 275.28% over 2025.
Management said that despite the adverse national and international context, Millenium BIM, which is celebrating 30 years of operations, maintained "a solid asset structure" and "comfortable capital" over 2025.
The management's message in the annual report states that, "despite this performance, the bank maintained solvency levels significantly above the regulatory minimum, reflecting the robustness of equity and the capacity to absorb adverse shocks."
The bank began operations in October 1995 as a result of a strategic partnership between Banco Comercial Português (Millennium BCP) and the state of Mozambique, closing 2025 with 2,678 staff.
The bank's share capital stood at 4.5 billion meticais (€60.6 million) on 31 December 2025.
BCP Africa (Millennium BCP group) held the majority share of 66.69%, followed by the Mozambique state with 17.12%, the country's national social security institute (INSS) with 4.95%, and the Mozambique Insurance Company (EMOSE) with 4.15%, among other shareholders.
PVJ/LYT // AYLS
Lusa
