EBITDA declined by 1.7 percent to MAD 16.70 billion, as a 7.9 percent decline in EBITDA in Morocco was compensated by strong growth at the international activities. With a gross margin up 1.3 points and operating costs down 1.5 percent, the EBITDA margin improved by 0.8 points from the previous year to 56.0 percent.
Group revenues in the fourth quarter declined by 3.9 percent from the previous year to MAD 7.33 billion, and quarterly EBITDA came to MAD 4.18 billion, a rise of 1.4 percent from 2011.
Net earnings in 2012 fell by 17 percent to MAD 6.71 billion, impacted by restructuring charges and a one-time contribution of MAD 204 million to the Moroccan solidarity fund. Excluding those items, net earnings fell 7.7 percent to MAD 7.49 billion. Distributable earnings for the same period amounted to MAD 6.51 billion, down by 20 percent, and the operator said it will pay out 100 percent of earnings as a dividend of MAD 7.4 per share.
The group customer base rose by 13.5 percent over 2012 to 33 million customers, led by the international customer base, up 30 percent to 13.1 million customers.
For 2013, Maroc Telecom said it aims to maintain its EBITDA margin at around 56 percent and show slight growth in operating cash flow (EBITDA – capex). Cash flow rose 8.5 percent last year to MAD 12.6 billion, while capex fell 7.0 percent to MAD 5.4 billion.
