Maroc Telecom Group revived growth in the third quarter of 2022 despite an inflationary context and regulatory pressures.
In Morocco, the summer season’s impact and land-line activity growth offset the trend observed in Mobile Data.
The contribution of the African subsidiaries to the Group’s results remains significant; they are maintaining a positive dynamic in a difficult macroeconomic, competitive and regulatory environment. At the same time, good cost management has improved the Group’s profitability.
Maroc Telecom Group relies on the quality of its network and services. It maintains its efficient investment policy, which enables it to support the development of usage in all the markets where it operates.
Those are highlights of its resilient third quarter:
- 3.9% growth in the Group’s customer base to nearly 76 million customers;
- Improvement in Group consolidated revenues of 0.3%* driven by a summer seasonal effect in Morocco (+2.8% in Q3 2022) and by a 1.5%* increase in subsidiaries’ activities;
- Reinforcement of the Group’s high level of profitability with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 52.5% (+0.8 pt*);
- Adjusted net income Group share up 5.3%* to MAD 4.52 billion at the end of September 2022;
- Maintaining a high level of Group investments (excluding frequencies and licenses), representing 20.5% of revenues, to support strongly fixed and mobile data usage;
- Net debt under control and representing 0.9x EBITDA
*Maintaining a constant MAD/Ouguiya/CFA Franc exchange rate
Adjusted Group consolidated results
Concerning customer base, the Group’s customer base continued to grow dynamically, with annual growth of 3.9% to nearly 76 million customers on September 30, 2022, driven mainly by the 6.2% growth in the international customer base.
Meanwhile, revenues at the end of September 2022, Maroc Telecom Group had consolidated revenues of MAD 26,808 million, up 0.1% (+0.3% at constant currency). International activities continued to grow and recorded an increase of 1.0% (+1.5% at constant currency), offsetting the slight decline in activities in Morocco (-0.5%).
On the one hand, the operating income before depreciation and amortization, on September 30, 2022, Maroc Telecom Group’s consolidated adjusted earnings from operations before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to MAD14,072 million, up 1.8% (+1.9% at constant exchange rates) compared with 2021, thanks to revenue growth and a proactive cost control policy in Morocco as well as in the Moov Africa subsidiaries. The Group’s EBITDA margin will increase by 0.9 percentage points (+0.8 percentage points at constant exchange rates) compared with 2021, reaching a high level of 52.5%.
On the other hand, regarding the operating income, at the end of the first nine months of 2022, Maroc Telecom Group’s consolidated adjusted earnings from operations (EBITA) amounted to MAD 8,872 million, up 4.3% (+4.4% at constant currency). The operating margin was 33.1%, up 1.3 percentage points.
At the end of September 2022, the Adjusted Net Income Group Share amounted to MAD 4,520 million, up 5.3% at constant exchange rates compared with 2021. On a reported basis, NBI increased from MAD 4.2 billion in September 2021 to MAD 2 billion in September 2022.
Related to investments, the capital expenditure excluding frequencies and licenses amounted to MAD5,497 million and represented 20.5% of Group revenues.
As for cash flow, In the first nine months of 2022, adjusted cash flow from operations (CFFO) amounted to MAD 8,159 million, down 2.7% compared with the same period in 2021.
Following the notification on July 22, 2022, of the decision of the ANRT Management Committee relating to the liquidation of the penalty payment imposed on Maroc Telecom in connection with the January 17, 2020 decision on unbundling, Maroc Telecom proceeded with the payment of the penalty payment set at MAD 2.45 billion. The appeal filed with the court of appeal against the said decision is still under investigation.