Maroc Telecom (IAM), the country’s leading telco in terms of subscribers, has published its financial results for the nine months ended 30 September 2017, reporting a 2.5% decrease in revenues, from MAD26.7 billion (USD2.7 billion) to MAD26.0 billion. The development was attributed to a 5.6% decrease in sales in its domestic market, which was partly offset by an 1.1% growth in revenues generated by the group’s international operations. Meanwhile, the telco’s EBITDA remained flat in the period under review, at MAD12.9 billion; on a like-for-like basis EBITDA increased 0.4%, with the progress attributed to a 12.2% growth in EBITDA from the company’s international operations, although this was partly offset by a 5.8% decline in the Moroccan unit’s EBITDA. IAM’s consolidated earnings from operations reached MAD8.1 billion at 30 September 2017, a 0.3% increase y-o-y, while the group’s share of net income amounted to MAD4.5 billion, up by 4.2% when compared to 9M16.
In operational terms, the group reported annualised growth of 7.7% for its consolidated customer base, with the total number passing the 56 million mark at end-September 2017. In Morocco, wireless subscribers increased by 1.5 % y-o-y to reach 18.9 million, up from 18.6 million in September 2016; the telco’s 3G/4G user base grew by 30.3% to 9.7 million, while broadband customers increased by 9.5% y-o-y to 1.3 million. In Niger, wireless numbers increased by 65.0% to nearly two million, while Cote d’Ivoire saw a 20.3% y-o-y rise in mobile subscribers to 7.6 million at 30 September. Furthermore, mobile subscriber growth was also reported in Togo (2.8 million, up 18.3%), Mali (6.8 million, 12.2%) and Benin (3.9 million, 5.4%), while Gabon and the Central African Republic reported annual declines of 5.8% (1.6 million) and 3.4% (140,000), respectively.