RABAT (Reuters) – Maroc Telecom, Vivendi’s most lucrative affiliate outside France, posted a 22 percent drop in first-half net profit on Tuesday, mainly because of voluntary redundancy costs and lower sales in its domestic market.
Shares in the Moroccan telecoms company fell about 3 percent on the news. “The unpleasant surprise for retail investors was the massive provision for the layoffs,” one Casablanca-based trader said.
The provision for the redundancy programme launched in June came in at 800 million dirhams, while net profits fell to 3.13 billion dirhams. So far 800 employees have volunteered to leave, but Maroc said the number may rise by the end of 2012.
Though sales revenue in Morocco fell 5.3 per cent, overall sales revenue dipped by only 1 percent, thanks largely to a 21 percent gain from other African operations. Maroc has subsidiaries in Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali and Mauritania.
“The results … corroborate Maroc Telecom’s strategy of significant price cuts, innovative rate plans and network investment in a competitive environment that remains fierce,” Maroc Chairman Abdeslam Ahizoune said in a statement.
The company added that it hopes to raise its operating margin to “about 38 percent by the end of 2012”, from 34 percent at the end of June.
Revenue growth has slowed mostly because of increased competition in Morocco, its main source of income. Sales there fell to 11.9 billion dirhams after turnover from fixed-line phone services slid 11 percent and mobile turnover dropped 5.1 percent to 8.94 billion dirhams, despite increases in number of users for both segments.
The rise in international sales was led by a 34.5 percent rise in Gabon turnover and a near-22 percent rise in Mali.
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