Maroc Telecom has published its financial results for the six months ended June 2013, reporting a 12.6% increase in net income to MAD3.52 billion (USD370.39 million), compared to MAD3.13 billion in the year-ago period. The group’s revenue for the six month period, however, declined by 4.6% to MAD14.47 billion, due to slower consumer spending and heightened competition in the company’s domestic market. Maroc Telecom’s international subsidiaries, on the other hand, have continued to exhibit steady growth with H1 sales increasing 9.1% on an annualised basis, to MAD3.80 billion, partially compensating for the lower turnover in Morocco. The group’s six-month EBITDA increased 0.6% to MAD8.41 billion, with a 5.2% year-on-year slump in Morocco hampering growth. CAPEX for the the six month period ended 30 June increased 36.6% to MAD2.75 billion, the bulk of which was invested in its domestic market (MAD2.04 billion).
In operational terms, Maroc Telecom reported healthy annualised growth of 12.5% for its consolidated subscriber, with its total number of customers passing the 35 million mark at 30 June 2013. In Morocco, wireless subscribers increased 3.8% y-o-y to 18.05 million, while the company’s wireline customer database grew 6.4% to 1.325 million, with broadband accesses increasing 19.8% y-o-y to 755,000. Meanwhile, in Mauritania wireless numbers increased 2.3% to reach two million subscribers, while fixed line telephony and broadband users grew slightly to 42,126 (1.5%) and 7,358 (4.2%), respectively. In Burkina Faso, the Office Nationale des Telecommunications (Onatel, inc Telmob) saw its mobile customer base increase by 18.9% year-on-year to 4.248 million by 30 June, although its broadband subscriber base declined by 12.4%, to 27,262 customers. Meanwhile Gabon Telecom saw its mobile user base increase 30.2% to 929,000, while Mali-based operator Societe des Telecommunications du Mali (SOTELMA) increased its mobile numbers 39.9% to 7.524 million, with fixed telephony lines edging up 7.3% to 102,000.