Telecompaper
Maroc Telecom’s revenues in Morocco decreased by 5.1 percent to MAD 10.07 billion in the first six months to 30 June from MAD 10.62 billion in the same period in 2016, affected by the reintroduction of asymmetric call termination rates in March and the deregulation of IP telephony in November 2016. The fixed line and mobile outbound service revenues increased by 2.3 percent, driven by the success of high-speed offers.
EBITDA declined by 5.6 percent to MAD 5.36 billion from MAD 5.67 billion in 2016 as a result of lower revenues.
The EBITDA margin shrank by 0.3 percentage points to 53.1 percent, with a 0.5 percentage points improvement in the gross margin ratio and to a 2.3 percent decrease in operating expenses following the departure of 1,026 employees. The adjusted operating income was MAD 3.49 billion with a margin of 34.7 percent, down 1.4 percentage points as result of the fall in EBITDA and the increase of 1.5 percent in depreciation charge after an important investment programme.
The adjusted cash flow from operations in Morocco was MAD 3.09 billion, down by 9.3 percent due to the decrease in EBITDA amid lower mobile call termination rates, the deregulation of IP telephony and a 15.5 percent increase in investment, driven by the acceleration in the roll-out of 4G+. The mobile customer base reached 18.4 million on 30 June, an increase of 1.3 percent in one year, with 3.7 percent growth in postpaid and 1.0 percent in the prepaid subscriber base.
