RABAT (Reuters) -Morocco’s largest telecom operator, Maroc Telecom, reported a 5.9% drop in first quarter profit on Friday as falling revenue in Morocco offset growth at its African subsidiaries.
The company said profit attributable to shareholders totalled 1.43 billion dirhams ($154 million) for January-March and its consolidated revenue fell 2% from a year earlier to 8.8 billion dirhams.
Revenue in its main Moroccan market dropped 3.7% but rose 4.1% at its African subsidiaries, known as Moov Africa.
Maroc Telecom said its customer base grew 3.6% to 80 million, as it steps up investments in broadband and mobile payment services at African subsidiaries.
Maroc Telecom, which is also listed on Euronext Paris, is 53% controlled by the United Arab Emirates’ Etisalat, with the Moroccan state owning 22%.
Besides Morocco, it operates subsidiaries in Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Togo.
In March, Maroc Telecom said it will team up with competitor Inwi to roll out a 5G network in Morocco, with a joint investment of 4.4 billion dirhams over the next three years.
Under the deal, which is pending the approval of telecommunications regulator ANRT, the operators agreed to equally set up two joint ventures in charge of deploying 5G optic fibre and towers.
(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by Susan Fenton)
