Downstream petroleum company Vivo Energy, known as Shell in Morocco, released on Thursday, 2nd of August, its maiden interim dividend, raising concerns over its activities in the Kingdom, reports Business Day. The group that has more than 1,800 Shell services in the continent reported revenue grew 14% to $3.7 billion in the six months to end-June said its income declined 1% $71 billion. According to the same source, the «risks and uncertainties» section in the company's interim results is related to the measure taken by the Moroccan government in response to a major consumer boycott. Trying to maintain the boycott campaign, initiated to protest against the high cost of living and rising fuel prices, the Moroccan government announced that it would re-introduce fuel price regulation, halted in 2015. «Whilst discussions have taken place, at this stage no plans regarding price regulation have been confirmed», said Vivo in a statement. «Morocco contributed 22% of Vivo's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) during the first half of its 2018 financial year, down from 29% in its 2017 financial year», added the same source. Earlier last month, Moroccan government has concluded a plan to monitor fuel prices, after Moroccans launched a boycott campaign in May on social media. The new measure is still to be approved by the Prime Minister, Saadeddine El Othmani. Through this plan El Othmani's executive will «impose temporary measures to counter excessive fluctuations in prices brought by extraordinary measures», said General Affairs minister Lahcen Daoudi when interviewed by Bloomberg. For the record, the government decided in 2015 to lift the cap on fuel distributors in an attempt to reduce current consumption and improve the national economy. The lift was, however, highly criticized, as fuel distributors' profits in the Kingdom skyrocketed.
