Contributor Ahmed Eljechtimi Reuters
Maroc Telecom, Morocco’s largest telecoms operator, on Monday reported an adjusted profit of 6 billion dirhams ($620 million) in 2019, up 1% compared with a year earlier.
The result was achieved on the back of higher mobile data activity in Morocco and in African subsidiaries, the company said in a statement.
Total revenue grew 1.3% to 36.5 billion dirhams ($3.76 billion), while the EBITDA margin rose 1.25% to 51.8%.
The company said its customer base rose 11.1% to 67.5 million citing a growth in demand for its mobile broadband and landlines in Morocco.
Maroc Telecom also said it would pay a dividend of 5.54 dirhams per share, totalling 4.9 billion dirhams.
Last month, Morocco’s telecom regulator (ANRT) fined Maroc Telecom 3.3 billion dirhams for abusing its dominant position in the market by hindering competitors’ access to unbundling on its network and the fixed market.
Maroc Telecom said it would appeal the decision adding that it had made a provision for the fine.
Maroc Telecom, which is listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris, is 53% controlled by the UAE’s Etisalat, with the Moroccan state owning 22%.
It operates subsidiaries in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Togo and the Central African Republic.
(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; editing by David Evans)
((ahmed.eljechtimi@thomsonreuters.com;))
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