OCP's first-half net profit affected by its rising cost of debt

Moroccan phosphate giant Office Cherifien des Phosphate (OCP) said on Friday, 7th of September, that it its first-half net profit drooped by 18.5 percent because of a rise in the cost of servicing its debt, reported Reuters.

The firm's net profit reached 1.885 dirhams in the first six months of the current year (2018), almost half of what was registered in the same period last year, 2.315 billion dirhams, said the company in a statement.

OCP's dept grew to 805 million dirhams in the first half of 2018, while it was only 236 million dirhams in the same period in 2017. Net dept, on the other hand, was limited to 45 billion dirhams.

Revenue rose by 15 percent, moving from 23.15 billion dirhams in 2017 to 26.6 billion dirhams in 2018. Demand, however, grew for fertilizers and phosphoric acid.

The company's EBITDA increased to 30 percent while it stood at 26 percent in the second half of 2017.