The two insurance broking companies listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange, namely Afma and Agma Lahlou-Tazi, have shown good financial performance during 2017.
Agma Lahlou-Tazi closed 2017 with a net profit of MAD42.3m ($4.4m), 3.9% higher than the MAD40.7m reported in 2016. In 2017, it had a turnover of MAD113.9m, an increase of 2.8% compared to 2016, reported Le Boursier.
The other broker Afma posted net income of MAD58.5m in 2017, up 3% from the previous year. It achieved a rate of return of 6.84% in 2017, the highest level in the market.
Commenting on the threat posed by the rise of bancassurance and digitalisation, AFMA CEO Farid Bensaid said that “bancassurance remains regulated in Morocco”, currently restricted only to the distribution of life insurance.
He conceded that digitisation is inevitable. “Today we are in the digital era, everyone needs to work to adapt to this new way of working and marketing.” He added that insurance companies and brokers have already thought about what to do to ride the wave of digitisation.
Proposed sale of Agma Lahlou-Tazi falls through
Earlier, another local media report said offers received in relation to the proposed sale of Agma Lahlou-Tazi are deemed to be inadequate, prompting Al Mada (formerly SNI) to prefer to retain control over the number-two insurance brokerage in Morocco.
Attijari Finances Corp, an investment bank backed by the Attijariwafa banking group, has been tasked for more than a year to steer the sale of its stake in Agma Lahlou-Tazi, reported Médias24. It holds a stake of 50.03% through ONA Brokers.
It is understood that one factor deterring prospective buyers is that various subsidiaries of Al Mada contribute significantly to the annual turnover of Agma Lahlou-Tazi.
Some potential buyers have even asked for a guarantee regarding this client portfolio, according to sources. As this is difficult to provide, prospective buyers would naturally integrate the risk in the offer price. M
MAD1 = $0.10