Maroc Telecom_PR-Q3 2023 Results

        CONSOLIDATED RESULTS AT SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

Performances above targets:

• Growth of 3.2% in consolidated revenues, driven mainly by Moov Africa subsidiaries (+7.5%); 
• Group EBITDA up 3.2%, with high EBITDA margin of 52.5%;
• Adjusted Group net income increasing by 2.4%;
• Sustained level of Group investments (excluding frequencies and licenses), reaching 20.7% of revenues.

Against a difficult global macroeconomic environment, Maroc Telecom Group resumed revenue growth, driven by Data, particularly in Moov Africa subsidiaries. Thanks to optimization cost efforts, the Group has maintained a high level of profitability, and pursued investments to support the development of usages and the quality of services. This performance comforts that the Group is on track to achieve its annual targets and confirms the success and resilience of its business model.

The Group's commitment to sustainable development and the well-being of citizens remains a priority, and is reflected in a variety of initiatives in the countries where it operates. In line with this commitment, Maroc Telecom has mobilized its teams to support the populations impacted by the earthquake in the Kingdom of Morocco, and has also made a donation to the dedicated Special Fund.

Group adjusted consolidated results*:

* The adjustments to the financial indicators are detailed in Appendix 1.

• Customer base
  
  

At September 30, 2023, the Group's customer base was 75.1 million, a slight 0.7% decrease year-on-year.

• Revenues
  
  

For the nine months to September 30, 2023, the Maroc Telecom Group posted consolidated revenues⁽⁴⁾ of MAD 27,679 million, up 3.2% year-on-year (+1.2% at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾), driven mainly by a 7.5% increase in international business (+3.1% at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾).

• Earnings from operations before depreciation and amortization
  
  

At September 30, 2023, Maroc Telecom Group's consolidated adjusted earnings from operations before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to MAD 14,527 million, up 3.2% (+1.5% at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾), thanks to the increase in consolidated revenues and an efficient controlling operating costs.

The adjusted EBITDA margin remained high at 52.5% (+0.2 pt at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾ year-on-year).

• Earnings from operations
  
  

Consolidated adjusted earnings from operations (EBITA)⁽⁵⁾ for the first nine months of 2023 reached MAD 9,230 million, up 4.0% (+2.5% at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾). Adjusted EBITA margin stood at 33.3% (+0.4 pt at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾ year-on-year).

• Net income Group share
  
  

Adjusted net income Group share for the nine months to September 30, 2023 amounted to MAD 4,629 million, up 2.4% (+1.5% at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾).

• Investments
  
  

CAPEX⁽²⁾ excluding frequencies and licenses amounted to MAD 5,722 million, representing 20.7% of Group revenues, in line with the full-year outlook.

• Cash flow
  
  

Over the first nine months of 2023, adjusted cash flows from operations (CFFO)⁽⁶⁾ amounted to MAD 7,176 million, down 12.1% compared to the same period in 2022 (-13.4% at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾), in line with the rise in the investments.

• Highlights
  
  

In response to the Royal appeal, Maroc Telecom supported the Special Fund set up to palliate the disastrous consequences of the recent earthquake in the Kingdom of Morocco. The Group contributed MAD 700 million to the fund in addition to individual employee contributions in order to support reconstruction and restoration work in the affected regions.

Group business review:

The adjustments to the “Morocco” and “International” financial indicators are explained in Appendix 1.

Morocco

* Fixed Data includes Internet, ADSL TV and Data services to companies.

Over the first nine months of 2023, business operations in Morocco generated revenues of MAD 14,749 million, almost stable year-on-year, driven mainly by Fixed-line Data (+5.5%).

Over the same period, adjusted earnings from operations before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to MAD 8,435 million, a year-on-year increase of 0.5%. Adjusted EBITDA margin remains at the high level of 57.2%, an improvement of 0.5 pt.

Adjusted earnings from operations (EBITA)⁽⁵⁾ amounted to MAD 5,849 million, up 1,5% year-on-year. Adjusted EBITA margin improved by 0.7 pt to 39.7%.

During the first nine months of 2023, adjusted cash flows from operations (CFFO)⁽⁶⁾ totaled MAD 4,527 million, down 17,0%.

Mobile

At September 30, 2023, the Mobile customer base⁽⁸⁾ totaled nearly 20.0 million customers, continuing to benefit from the strong momentum of the postpaid segment, which expanded by 3.4%.

Mobile revenues slightly decreased (-0.7%) versus the same period in 2022 to MAD 8,870 million.

ARPU⁽¹⁰⁾ for the first nine months of 2023 amounted to MAD 46.8, almost stable compared with the same period in 2022.

Fixed-line and Internet

The Fixed-line customer base stood at 1.8 million lines at end-September 2023. Growth in the FTTH customer base (+44%) largely offset the decline in the ADSL customer base.

Fixed-line and Internet activities generated revenues of MAD 7.2 billion, down slightly by 0.4% compared to 2022. Growth in Fixed-line Data (+5.5%) partially offset the decline in Voice.

International

Financial indicators

The Group's international revenues for the first nine months of 2023 were up 7.5% (+3.1% at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾) at MAD 13,765 million, thanks to a good momentum in Mobile Data up 27,4% (+22.3% at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾) and the performance of Mobile Money up 11,6% (+7.3% at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾). Excluding the reduction in call termination rates, subsidiaries' revenues were up 3.5% at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾.

Adjusted earnings from operations before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 7.3% (+3.0% at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾) to MAD 6,093 million, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 44.3%.

Adjusted earnings from operations (EBITA)⁽⁵⁾ amounted to MAD 3,381 million, up 8.8% (+4.4% at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾), mainly due to the increase in adjusted EBITDA. This performance led to a slight 0.3 pt increase in adjusted EBITA margin to 24.6%.

Adjusted cash flows from operations (CFFO)⁽⁶⁾ fell 2.0% (-6.0% at constant exchange rates⁽¹⁾) to MAD 2,649 million, mainly due to the increase in investment.

Operating indicators

Notes:

(1) Constant MAD/ouguiya/CFA franc exchange rate.
(2) Capital expenditure corresponds to acquisitions of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets recognized during the period.
(3) The net debt/EBITDA ratio excludes the impact of IFRS 16, and takes into account the annualization of EBITDA.
(4) Maroc Telecom consolidates in its financial statements Casanet and the Moov Africa subsidiaries in Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Niger, Central African Republic and Chad.
(5) EBITA corresponds to operating profit before amortization of intangible assets related to business combinations, impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets related to business combinations and other income and expenses related to financial investment transactions and transactions with shareholders (except when they are recognized directly in equity).
(6) CFFO comprises the net cash flows from operating activities before taxes as presented in the cash flow statement, as well as dividends received from associates and non-consolidated equity interests. It also includes net capital expenditure, which corresponds to net cash outflows on acquisitions and disposals of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets.
(7) Borrowings and other current and non-current liabilities less cash (and cash equivalents) including cash blocked for bank loans.
(8) The active customer base consists of prepaid customers who have made or received a voice call (excluding calls from the public telecommunication network operator concerned or its Customer Relations Centers) or sent an SMS/MMS or who have used the Data services (excluding exchanges of technical data with the public telecommunication network operator concerned) in the past three months, and non-terminated postpaid customers.
(9) The active customer base of the 3G and 4G+ Mobile Internet includes holders of a postpaid subscription contract (whether or not coupled with a voice offer) and holders of a prepaid subscription to the Internet service who have carried out at least one recharge during the past three months or whose credit is valid and who have used the service during this period.
(10) ARPU (average revenues per user) is defined as revenues generated by incoming and outgoing calls and data services net of promotions, excluding roaming and equipment sales, divided by the average number of users in the period. This is the blended ARPU of the prepaid and postpaid segments.
(11) The broadband customer base includes ADSL, FTTH and leased connections and also includes CDMA in Mali.

Important Warning:
Forward-looking statements. This press release contains forward-looking statements and items of a forward-looking nature relating to the financial position, results of operations, strategy and outlook of Maroc Telecom and the impacts of certain operations. Although Maroc Telecom believes that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, they do not constitute guarantees as to the future performance of the company. Actual results may be very different from forward-looking statements due to a number of known or unknown risks and uncertainties, most of which are beyond our control, including the risks described in public documents filed by Maroc Telecom with the Moroccan Capital Market Authority (www.ammc.ma) and the French Financial Markets Authority (www.amf-france.org), also available in French on our website (www.iam.ma). This press release contains forward-looking information that can only be assessed on the day it is distributed. Maroc Telecom makes no commitment to supplement, update or modify these forward-looking statements due to new information, a future event or any other reason, subject to applicable regulations, in particular Articles 2.19 et seq. of the circular of the Moroccan Capital Market Authority and 223-1 et seq. of the General Regulation of the French Financial Markets Authority.

Maroc Telecom is a global telecommunications operator in Morocco, a leader in all its business segments, Fixed-line, Mobile and Internet. It has grown internationally and is now present in eleven countries in Africa. Maroc Telecom is listed simultaneously in Casablanca and Paris and its reference shareholders are the Société de Participation dans les Télécommunications (SPT)* (53%) and the Kingdom of Morocco (22%).

* SPT is a Moroccan company controlled by Etisalat.

Appendix 1: Relationship between adjusted financial indicators and published financial indicators

Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITA, Group share of adjusted net income and adjusted CFFO are not strictly accounting measures and should be considered as additional information. They better illustrate the Group's performance by excluding exceptional items.

Appendix 2: Impact of the IFRS 16 norm

At the end of September 2023, the impacts of the IFRS 16 norm on the main indicators of the Maroc Telecom Group were as follows:

Attachment

• Maroc Telecom_PR-Q3 2023 Results