(Reuters) – Maroc Telecom, Morocco’s largest telecoms operator, reported on Wednesday a 2.3% rise in first-half profit to a higher than targeted 2.9 billion dirhams ($300 million), citing efficient cost containment.
Consolidated revenue rose 4.7% to 18.39 billion dirhams thanks to its African subsidiaries, where mobile data and mobile money services are growing faster than in Morocco, the company said in a statement.
Maroc Telecom has 75 million customers and operations in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Togo and the Central African Republic.
The company, which is listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris, is 53% controlled by the UAE’s Etisalat, with the Moroccan state owning 22%.
(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi)