Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub
Photo by: Duane Daws
JSE-listed Vodacom on Monday posted a 1.1% uptick in headline earnings a share to 445c for the first half of the financial year.
In the six months ended September 30, group earnings before interest and taxes contracted by 0.2% to R10.8-billion, as a result of higher growth in depreciation and amortisation charges.
The acquisition of a 34.94% interest in Safaricom contributed R349-million profit for the first two months, boosting the group’s net profit by 7% to R6.7-billion, said Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub.
Group revenue increased by 4.6% to R42-billion, while group service revenue expanded 2% to R34.7-billion during the period under review.
Normalised service revenue grew by 4.6%, boosted by a strong increase in customer gains in South Africa and significant gains in data and M-Pesa revenue internationally.
The South African operations posted revenue growth of 7.7% on the back of stronger device sales, with service revenue rising 4.7% to R26.7-billion.
Revenue for international operations declined 5.2% and service revenue declined 4.8%; however, on a normalised basis, revenue and service revenue grew 5% and 5.5% respectively.
“Our investment in a new M-Pesa platform has had an immediate impact, resulting in a 70.9% increase in transactions and an average of R24-billion processed through the enhanced system on a monthly basis,” he said.
Vodacom expected the Safaricom transaction to further drive M-Pesa development and penetration outside of South Africa.
Meanwhile, Vodacom added 4.3-million customers during the first half of the year, increasing its customers to more than 71-million.
Some 2.9-million new additions were recorded in South Africa and 1.4-million in the international operations.
Vodacom declared a half-year interim dividend per share of 390c.