Safaricom FY20 Revenue Grew by an impressive 14.3% to KShs.71.7 Billion Beating Expectations

Kenya’s largest telco, Safaricom, has just released its financial results of the year, which has indicated strong revenue growth. Profits were up from KShs 89.0 Billion in FY19 to KShs 101.0 Billion in FY20, a 13.5 percent growth year over year before interest and tax.

On the other hand, profits after tax stood at Kshs 71.7 Bn, up by KShs 9.2 Bn from the previous year representing a 14.3 percent YoY growth.

“The business has delivered exceptionally well, outperforming the guidance, in the process generating considerably solid returns to our shareholders,” said Michael Joseph, former interim CEO at the telco.

In the period under review, the telco’s service revenue grew by 4.8 percent, down from 5.3 percent in the previous period to KShs 251.2 Bn. Voice calls still lead as the main profit generator for the company’s service business, accounting for 34.5 percent, followed by M-PESA, which accounted for 33.6 percent of total service revenue.

M-PESA revenue grew by KShs 11.9 Bn, a 17.2 percent uptick. A significant notable change in the M-PESA business was the decline in revenue from betting, which was down 33 percent YoY – by KShs 1.9 Bn.

Mobile data is another service category that grew handsomely in the period. It generated Kshs 4.4 Bn, nearly 40 percent up, while fixed data grew by 10.7 percent.

The telco also celebrated several achievements made during the FY20 period, such as the acquisition of M-PESA Brand, partnership with Amazon Web services, and its pursuit to drive a savings culture and wealth management through Mali, which is currently under testing.

Other Key Highlights

• Messaging revenue declined by 12.3% to KES 17.19bn.
• Fixed service revenue increased by 10.7% to KES 8.97bn.
• One month active overall customer base increased by 9.5% to 28.63mn.
• One month active M-PESA customers increased 10.0% to 24.91mn.
• One month active chargeable mobile data customers increased 10.2% to 19.62mn

*Updated to include last section

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