Falling profits and lower revenues have hit Maroc Telecom in its Moroccan market but the telecom provider’s African business has posted strong financial growth.

This is according to Maroc Telecom’s consolidated results for the first nine months of 2013 released on Thursday.

Maroc Telecom is Morocco’s largest mobile operator with just over 18 million subscribers, according to its consolidated results.

The group's major shareholders are Vivendi Group (53%) and the Kingdom of Morocco (30%). Maroc Telecom also has operations in African nations Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali and Mauritania.

Vivendi, though, is in talks to sell its stake with United Arab Emirates (UAE) telecoms firm Etisalat being the top bidder.

And as key discussions continue regarding the buyout, the Maroc Telecom group has reported consolidated revenues for the nine months ending September 2013 of MAD 21,467 million. This figure is 4.7% less than consolidated revenues for the same period in 2012.

Meanwhile, the group’s earnings from operations before depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) reached MAD 12,383 millions, a decrease of 1.1% from a year earlier.

Maroc Telecom has attributed the fall in revenues and earnings to intense competition in Morocco’s mobile market, especially with regard to a transition to per-second billing in that country.

Despite the financial knock the firm has taken in its home market, Maroc Telecom says its mobile customer bases in Morocco has grown by 1.6% over the period to reach 18.31 million.

Also, the firm says its number of fixed lines in Morocco increased 8% to reach 1,347,000. Take up of its ADSL broadband offerings further jumped 21.8% to reach 790,000 customers.

Further afield, group growth reflected that its sub-Saharan Africa customer bases expanded by 18.1%. Its international revenue, Ebitda and Ebita also rose by 9.5%, 24% and 44% respectively.

"Despite ongoing intense competition and a difficult economy, Maroc Telecom Group is seeing its strategies pay off,” said Abdeslam Ahizoune, chairman of the management board.

“As a result of the quality and innovation that characterise its offers, and thanks to cost-cutting efforts, the group is able to maintain its annual targets.

“To satisfy the rapid growth of voice and internet use over all its networks, the group continues to invest in Morocco and in its sub-Saharan African subsidiaries, with an emphasis on providing a rapid transition from high-speed to very-high-speed broadband," he added.