Maroc Telecom, a subsidiary of French media group Vivendi, has published its financial results for the first quarter of 2014, reporting a marginal 0.4% annual increase in revenues, from MAD7.180 billion (USD874.18 million) to MAD7.206 billion. The improvement was attributed to 12.3% annual growth among the company’s international operations, which partly offset a 3.4% sales decrease in its domestic market during the same period. Maroc Telecom’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) meanwhile decreased by 6.8% in the period under review, to MAD3.942 billion; the slump was attributed to an 11% decline in EBITDA in Morocco.
In operational terms, Maroc Telecom reported annualised growth of 16.5% for its consolidated customer base, with the total number of customers passing the 39 million mark at end-March 2014. In Morocco, wireless customers increased by 2.6% year-on-year to 18.327 million, up from 17.871 million in 1Q13; the telco’s wireline customer base grew by 9.2% to 1.418 million users, while broadband customers increased by 22.7% y-o-y to 888,000. In Mauritania, wireless numbers decreased by 8.1% to 1.863 million users, due to intense competition in the market, while broadband subscriptions increased by 10.0% to 7,500. In Burkina Faso, the Office Nationale des Telecommunications (Onatel, incl. Telmob) saw its wireless subscribers increase by 23.8% y-o-y to pass the five million user milestone by 31 March, although its broadband customer base declined by 22.1% to around 24,000. Further, Gabon Telecom reported a 26.0% increase in the number of its mobile users to 1.039 million, while Mali-based operator Societe des Telecommunications du Mali (SOTELMA) increased its mobile subscriber numbers 58.1% to 10.283 million in 1Q14, with more than four million net additions in the period under review.
Abdeslam Ahizoune, chairman of Maroc Telecom’s management board, stated: ‘As a result of the constant adaptation of our strategy to the latest innovations in technology and services, Maroc Telecom Group has once again proven its capacity to understand and control new information technologies. In addition, the group practices strict cost control that retains high margins and leaves investment capacity undiminished. In order to pave the way for high speed broadband, Maroc Telecom has pursued significant renovation of its mobile, fixed line, and internet networks.’