RABAT  - Maroc Telecom, Morocco’s largest telecoms operator, on Monday reported increased profit last year on the back of higher data activity and said it expects revenue to remain stable this year.

The company, which has subsidiaries in Sub-Saharan Africa, posted a 2.3 percent rise in adjusted net profit to 6 billion dirhams ($629 million), with consolidated revenue up 3.1 percent at 36 billion dirhams while its operating margin rose 0.5 percent to 49.6 percent.

The group’s customer base grew by 6.5 percent to 61 million users, including 19.1 million mobile phone clients in Morocco.

The company said it will pay out all of its profit in dividends at 6.83 dirhams per share.

Maroc Telecom operates subsidiaries in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Togo and the Central African Republic. The company, listed on both the Casablanca Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris, is 53 percent controlled by the UAE’s Etisalat, with the Moroccan state owning 30 percent.

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