Maroc Telecom Group's revenues for the first nine months of 2017 dropped by 2.5 percent to MAD 26.02 billion. The fall was due to a decline in incoming revenues following the liberalization of IP telephony in November 2016 in Morocco and the decrease in mobile termination rates in Morocco and African subsidiaries, the company said.
Revenues from outgoing services were up 2.3 percent thanks to the growth in the customer base and increased data usage. The group’s subsidiaries sustained 11 percent revenue growth and 42 percent growth in EBITDA at constant exchange rates. The group customer base amounted to over 56 million customers at 30 September, an increase of 7.7 percent year-on-year, driven by an expansion in the mobile customer bases in Niger, Togo and Ivory Coast, as well as by the sustained growth of the mobile and fixed broadband customer bases in Morocco.
The group's share of adjusted net income amounted to MAD 4.48 billion, up 4.2 percent compared to MAD 4.30 billion in the same period of 2016, thanks to the strong increase in net income from International operations driven by the success of the restructuring of the new Moov subsidiaries which are now showing an overall positive net result. EBITDA amounted to MAD 12.96 billion, up 0.2 percent from MAD 12.93 billion.
The 12.2 percent growth in EBITDA from International operations more than offset the 5.8 percent decline in EBITDA in Morocco. The EBITDA margin was up 1.3 points year-on-year to 49.8 percent thanks to significant efforts to optimize costs and the favorable impact of decreases in mobile termination rates at the Sub-Saharan subsidiaries. EBITA amounted to MAD 8.09 billion, up 0.3 percent from the same period in 2016.
Adjusted cash flow from operations was MAD 7.87 billion, up slightly from MAD 7.77 billion, driven by an improvement in cash flow in Morocco despite the intensification of the pace of capital investment. Capex rose 5.0 percent year-on-year to MAD 5.43 billion.
