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Rabat – Maroc Telecom’s turnover fell by 2.8 percent in the first half of 2017 due to the reintroduction of VOIP, decreasing to MAD 17 billion compared to 17.6 billion in the H1 2017. Meanwhile, the company’s African subsidiaries are in the black.
- VOIP drove group’s turnover down by 2.8% in H1 2017
- African subsidiaries’ activities lead group’s net income 5.9% higher
- 55 million additional customers
The telecommunication giant seems to have miscalculated the risks of the deregulation of IP telephony, known as VOIP, back in November 2016. Abdeslam Ahizoune, head of the group, stated at the time that its impact on the company’s turnover would be “insignificant.”
However, Maroc Telecom took a hard hit in the first semester of 2017, affected by the deregulation of IP telephony in Morocco as well as a decrease in call termination rates both nationally and in its African subsidiaries. The company said that it now does expect lower underlying revenues over the whole year.
The company’s Moroccan revenues thus fell by 5.1 percent in a matter of six months, down to MAD 10 billion instead of 10.62 billion in 2016.
The company’s adjusted cash flow from local operations amounted at MAD 4.53 billion, down 13.6 percent due to the decreases in local revenues, a 15.5 percent increase in investment, driven by the acceleration in the roll-out of 4G+. During the first half of 2017, the group issued a MAD 410 million payment for the second part of the global licence obtained in Cote D’Ivoire in March 2016 for MAD 1.6 billion, as well as a disbursement of MAD 28 million for the second and final part of the 3G licence in Togo.
African Subsidiaries: Maroc Telecom’s Lifeline
The Maroc Telecom group’s adjusted net profit increased by 5.7 percent amounting to MAD 2.92 billion by the end of June 2017, compared to MAD 2.77 billion in the same period in 2016. According to the group’s report, this evolution is mainly due to the sharp increase in the net income of its African subsidiaries’ activities.
The company’s outbound services revenues also increased by 2.1 percent, due to the growth of its customer base and overall usage, in particular of data. By the end of June, the group’s customer base was up 3.8 percent with over 55 million new customers, driven by an expansion in the mobile customer bases in Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, and Togo, as well as by sustained growth in fixed-line and high-speed customers in Morocco.
The group’s Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) also rose by 0.4 percent to reach MAD 8.52 billion at constant exchange rates. Its margin was up by 49.9 percent by June 2017, due to efforts to control and optimize costs and the favourable impact of decreases in mobile call termination rates at the African subsidiaries. The operating margin increased at constant exchange rates by 30.9 percent.
