The total net profit of 70 companies listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange last year was 31.81 billion dirhams ($3.5 billion), up 12.1 percent year-on-year, according to a Moroccan business bank. The increase in profits is mainly due to the efforts made by Moroccan companies in the area of debt reduction and rationalization of expenditures in addition to the general economic situation, the bank explained in its report on Morocco’s stock performance. Moroccos economy grew by four percent in 2017, compared to 1.2 percent in 2016. The report said that 51 companies listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange announced a rise in net profits while 19 companies reported a decline in their annual results. It pointed out that the banking sector is the largest contributor to these profits with 36.5 percent, followed by telecommunications with a 17.9 percent stakes and construction and building materials sector with 10 percent of the total net profits of listed companies. The building materials industry recorded the highest rise in its annual profit block by 60.6 percent to 3.2 billion dirhams ($348 million). The report said that the rise was mainly due to the results of the “Cement Morocco,” which moved from a loss of 136.4 million dirhams ($15 million) in 2016 to a net profit of 979 million dirhams ($106.5 million) in 2017. Also, the profits of the six Moroccan banks listed on Casablanca Stock Exchange amounted to 8.7 percent to 11.7 billion dirhams ($1.3 billion). The bank attributed the performance to Moroccan banks risk management results and the acquisition of Attijariwafa Bank to Barclays Bank in Egypt. The report also pointed out that the profits of the mineral sector increased by 71.8 percent in 2017 compared to 1.3 billion dirhams in 2016 ($141.3 million). The increase was mainly due to a 67.2 percent increase in the profits of a mining company after selling stakes in the Limekal copper exploitation project in the Congo for the Chinese Wanbao Group.