Mozambique’s largest bank Banco Comercial e de Investimentos (BCI) reported a 40.3 percent drop in net profit for 2025, as higher provisions tied to sovereign debt exposure eroded earnings for a second consecutive year.
Net profit fell to $48.6 million from $81.5 million in 2024 and a record $110.4 million in 2023, cementing a two-year decline that has stripped the lender of more than half its peak earnings. BCI attributed the result to rising impairments on public debt positions, reflecting worsening sovereign risk in Mozambique, alongside extraordinary costs from commission refund obligations.
The numbers arrived against an unsettled ownership backdrop. Portugal’s Banco BPI (BPI), which holds a 35.67 percent stake in BCI, announced earlier this year its intention to divest. That exit plan forced BCI’s controlling shareholder, Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) of Portugal, to publicly address its own future in the institution.
CGD Executive Committee Chairman Paulo Macedo met Mozambican President Daniel Chapo in Maputo on May 5 and confirmed the group’s intention to stay, but attached conditions to that commitment. Macedo told the president that CGD’s presence would continue “as long as the authorities consider it appropriate and as long as we are welcome.”
Macedo also raised the possibility of listing BCI on the Mozambique Stock Exchange, a move that could reshape the bank’s capital structure and broaden domestic ownership.
Despite the profit pressure, BCI’s balance sheet expanded. Total assets grew 3.96 percent to $3.25 billion, customer deposits rose 4.47 percent to $2.59 billion and banking income climbed 4.23 percent to $303 million. Gross loans contracted 7.59 percent to $975.5 million, and the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio climbed 3.21 percentage points to 14.18 percent, reflecting deteriorating credit quality across the portfolio.
BCI closed 2025 with 211 branches, 2,702 employees and a market share of 24.32 percent of deposits, retaining its position as the country’s dominant lender. CGD holds 51 percent of the bank directly through its subsidiary Caixa Participações, with BPI owning 35.67 percent and CGD holding an additional 10.51 percent directly.
