UPDATE 1-Maroc Telecom 2007 net profit rises 19 pct

(Adds chairman comments from press conference)

By Tom Pfeiffer

RABAT, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Maroc Telecom IAM.CS, Morocco's dominant telecoms company, reported a 19 percent rise in 2007 net profit on Friday and forecast further growth this year as falling charges encourage more Moroccans to use mobile phones.

Net profit rose to 8.033 billion Moroccan dirhams ($1.05 billion), while operating profit rose 22 percent to 12.2 billion.

French media and telecoms group Vivendi (VIV.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) owns 53 percent of Maroc Telecom while the Moroccan state owns 30 percent.

The company proposed a dividend of 9.20 dirhams a share -- representing its entire distributable profit for 2007 -- and forecast revenue growth of more than 7 percent for 2008 and operating profit growth of more than 9 percent.

Despite a severe drought last year that depressed household incomes in the north African country, mobile phone use grew 30 percent from 2006 as airtime prices dipped 25 percent, Chairman Abdeslam Ahizoune told reporters in Rabat.

The company, which competes with Spanish-Portuguese venture Meditel and with Wana owned by national conglomerate ONA ONA.CS, added 420 mobile base stations last year, taking coverage to 98 percent of the population.

The firm's operating margin gained 4.6 points to 44.4 percent, with mobile operations representing almost two thirds of sales.