CIH Bank: Attijari Global Research Maintains Buy Recommendation with 38% Upside

CIH Bank remains a positively followed banking stock by Attijari Global Research.

The research firm maintains its buy recommendation on the stock, with an unchanged price target of 492 dirhams, compared to a current price of 356 dirhams as of May 5, 2026.

The upside potential stands at 38% over a 12-month horizon.

The research note is based on CIH Bank's 2025 publication, which is deemed consistent with the growth scenario adopted by analysts.

CIH Bank has surpassed the milestone of 1 billion dirhams in profits for the first time, with a net profit growth (RNPG) of 1.089 million million dirhams, up 24.4% year-over-year.

This level is almost in line with AGR's forecast of 1.090 million million dirhams.

The net banking income stood at 5.423 million million dirhams, up 14.4% year-over-year, slightly above AGR's initial estimate of 5.275 million million dirhams.

The interest margin contributed more than half to this growth, with a 12.9% increase, driven by the dynamics of customer loans.

These loans rose 16.7% to 118.1 million dirhams, particularly due to equipment loans in Morocco, which increased 49.7% to 16.1 million dirhams.

The commission margin progressed 9.4% to 464 million dirhams, while the result of market activities and other activities appreciated 19.5% to 1.576 million million dirhams.

These levels are also slightly above AGR's forecasts.

Operationally, the exploitation coefficient improves by 1 point to 42.9%, a level close to the banking sector's average of 43% in 2025, according to AGR.

The risk cost reached 1.209 million million dirhams, up 12.9% year-over-year, above AGR's initial estimate of 1.137 million million dirhams.

However, the risk cost ratio to gross customer loans improves slightly, to 97 basis points from 100 basis points in 2024.

The dividend per share is maintained at 14 dirhams, below AGR's expectation of 16 dirhams.

The social payout ratio stands at 54%, compared to a pre-Covid average of 86% over the 2015-2019 period.

AGR maintains its 2025-2027 scenario.

The research firm forecasts a RNPG of 1.160 million million dirhams in 2026 and 1.216 million million dirhams in 2027.

The net banking income is expected to reach 5.630 million million dirhams in 2026 and 5.959 million million dirhams in 2027.

Based on the prices as of May 5, 2026, the stock trades at an estimated price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 11.6x in 2025, 10.9x in 2026, and 10.4x in 2027, with an expected dividend yield of 4.5% in 2025, 5.1% in 2026, and 5.6% in 2027.

It is worth noting that the CIH Bank stock has declined 12.7% over the past 12 months, compared to a 7.2% gain in the MASI index over the same period.

AGR believes that this performance gap, combined with the bank's profitable trajectory, justifies maintaining the buy recommendation.