Maroc Telecom Group's revenues increased by 5 percent to MAD 17.94 billion million in the first six months of 2018 to MAD 17.09 billion, driven by growth both at its operations in Morocco and its international subsidiaries. The group's customer base stood at more than 60 million customers, up 9.7 percent year-on-year. The solids H1 results led Maroc Telecom to raise its outlook for 2018.
EBITDA amounted to MAD 8.86 billion, up 4.0 percent, and EBITDA margin reached 49.4 percent. Maroc Telecom's adjusted EBITA amounted to MAD 5.54 billion, up 4.8 percent, and adjusted net income increased 2.3 percent to MAD 2.99 billion. Adjusted cash flow from operations reached MAD 4.23 billion, down 6.5 percent, as investments (excluding frequencies and licenses) rose 3.2 percent during the period, representing 17.4 percent of group revenues.
The solids H1 results led Maroc Telecom to raise its outlook for 2018. At constant scope and exchange rates, the company expects an increase in revenues and EBITDA, compared to a previous forecast for stable results. Capex is planned at a maximum 20 percent of revenues, excluding frequencies and licenses, down from the earlier outlook of up to 23 percent.
In Morocco, the group sustained growth in revenues, which rose 4.8 percent to MAD 10.56 billion. This growth was driven both by mobile revenues and fixed-line revenues, which continued to benefit from the surge in data usage. EBITDA amounted to MAD 5.54 billion, up 3.5 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, and enabled the EBITDA margin rate to remain high at 52.5 percent. The adjusted EBITA margin wa 34.8 percent.
The group's international operations generated revenues of MAD 8.15 billion, up 7.4 percent. This increase was driven by the new subsidiaries, particularly in Ivory Coast, Benin and Togo, the return to growth in Mali, and the increase in data and mobile money usage. EBITDA increased by 4.8 percent to MAD 3.32 billion, while the margin amounted to 40.7 percent, down 0.9 percentage points at constant exchange rates due to the increase in the weight of regulatory taxes and fees, notably with the introduction of new taxes in Mali and Gabon.
The adjusted operating margin declined by 0.7 percentage points to 22.8 percent. The adjusted cash flow from operations from international operations was down 27.2 percent to MAD 1.04 billion, due primarily to increased investment to support the development of 3G and 4G networks.
