RABAT- Morocco’s largest telecoms operator Maroc Telecom on Monday reported a 0.9% rise in adjusted first-quarter profit to 1.6 billion dirhams ($160 million), buoyed by increased mobile data activity.

Total revenue gained 4% to 9.3 billion dirhams as the company's customer base grew 11.3% to 69 million.

Maroc Telecom, 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%.

It operates subsidiaries in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Togo and the Central African Republic.

(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi Editing by David Goodman) ((ahmed.eljechtimi@thomsonreuters.com;))