Maroc Telecom Reports Flat First-Half Profit

Maroc Telecom, Morocco’s largest telecoms operator, on Monday reported a profit of 3 billion dirhams ($312.8 mln) in the first half of the year, up 0.7 % compared with the same period last year.

Maroc Telecom, listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange and Euronext in Paris, is 53% controlled by the United Arab Emirates telecoms group Etisalat.

The Moroccan government owns 22% after it recently sold an 8% stake in the company in a privatisation push to curb the country’s budget deficit.

The company, which has subsidiaries in Sub-Saharan Africa, said the performance was achieved mainly on the back of “broadband success” and better cost control.

Consolidated revenue fell to 17.84 billion dirhams, down 0.5%, the company said, citing intense competition and increasing tax pressure in its African subsidiaries.

Maroc Telecom operates subsidiaries in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Togo and the Central African Republic

The group’s customer base grew 3.9% to 63 million users, including 19.3 million in Morocco.―Reuters