Maroc Telecom Group's consolidated revenues dropped by 0.8 percent to MAD 34.96 billion at constant exchange rates for the financial year ended 31 December 2017 from MAD 35.25 billion in 2016. The 2.4 percent increase in subsidiaries' revenues at constant exchange rates offset the impact in Morocco of the deregulation of IP telephony since November 2016 and the decline in call termination rates.
Group revenues for the fourth quarter were up 4.3 percent, as revenue in Morocco increased by 27 percent, and with accelerated revenue growth at subsidiaries. The Group share of adjusted net income was MAD 5.87 billion, up 4.4 percent from MAD 5.62 billion in 2016. This increase reflects good resistance to VoIP applications in Morocco and substantial growth in net income from international operations and particularly the new Moov subsidiaries, which overall produced a very substantially positive net income.
The Group's customer base was nearly 57 million at the end of 2017, up 5.5 percent thanks to the sustained growth of new subsidiaries' mobile customer bases and the rise in clients for high speed mobile and fixed line in Morocco. At the end of 2017, EBITDA amounted to MAD 17.16 billion, up 1.5 percent from the previous year's MAD 16.91 billion. The EBITDA margin increased by 1.2 points at constant exchange rates to 49.1 percent, as optimisation efforts cut group operating costs by 2.3 percent, and amid decreases in mobile call termination rates at subsidiaries.
At year-end, Group consolidated adjusted earnings from operations (EBITA) were MAD 10.55 billion, up 1.2 percent from 2016. The adjusted EBITA margin improved by 0.6 points to 30.2 percent. The adjusted cash flow from operations (CFFO) amounted to MAD 11.02 billion, up 3.1 percent from 2016 thanks to the increase in EBITDA, the close management of Working Capital Requirement (WCR) and despite the increase in capital expenditure that represented 23 percent of revenues over the full year (excluding frequencies and licences).
The board will propose to the General Shareholders' Meeting on 24 April the payment of an ordinary dividend of MAD 6.48 per share, up 1.9 percent from 2016, representing a total amount of MAD 5.7 billion and corresponding to 100 percent of the net profit.
The Group's International operations posted revenues of MAD 15.73 billion, up 2.7 percent driven by the 11.9 percent revenue increase of the new subsidiaries, offsetting the impact of the drop in call termination rates, of the erosion of the international incoming traffic and of the deactivation of unidentified customers. EBITDA increased by 7.6 percent to MAD 6.36 billion. The EBITDA margin increased by 1.9 points to 40.4 percent, driven by the call termination rate and operating cost decreases. The board announced that dividend payment date would be from 05 June.
Maroc Telecom is projecting stable revenue and EBITDA in 2018 and CAPEX of approximately 23 percent of revenues, excluding frequencies and licences., at constant scope and exchange rates,
