Maroc Telecom Group faces stiff competition at home, but strong growth in international ops

The Maroc Telecom Group – a Vivendi subsidiary – reported a 3.4 per cent decline in its full-year revenues of €2.74 billion (US$3.68 billion), in the face of a 25 per cent mobile price cut in Morocco and a particularly unfavourable regulatory environment.

The revenue decline came despite a 12.2 per cent rise in its customer base, reaching 28.982 million, primarily driven by the company’s activities outside of Morocco, where the customer base grew by 39.2 per cent year-on-year.

In Morocco, revenues decreased by 5.2 per cent. Mobile revenues from outgoing services were nearly stable at constant currency thanks to a strong increase in usage of 27 per cent and the steady growth in the post paid customer base (up 25 per cent). The increase in bandwidth and the enhanced offerings lead to a 19 per cent increase in the broadband Internet customer base.

Revenues outside of Morocco increased by 7.4 per cent, driven by the sharp increase in the mobile customer base (up 41 per cent), notably in Mali where revenues rose by 33.7 per cent. Maroc Telecom Group’s EBITDA dropped by 10 per cent to €1.5 billion, although its EBITDA margin remained high, at approximately 55 per cent.

Aside from offering fixed and mobile services in Morocco, Maroc Telecom Group also holds stakes in Mauritel in Mauritania, via the CMC holding company; Onatel in Burkina Faso; Gabon Telecom in Gabon; and Sotelma in Mali.