Safaricom records Sh28.1bn in half year profit
Kenya’s leading telco, Safaricom PLC, has posted a KES 28.1 Billion in net income for the six months ended September 30th 2024.
The strong performance was driven by double digit growth in the Kenyan unit, where service revenue grew by 12.9% to KES 177.5 billion, resulting in EBIT and Net income growing by 18.0% to KES 79.2 billion, and 14.1% to KES 47.5 billion respectively.
In the period under review, the group service revenue grew 13.1% at KES 179.9 billion, while group Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) grew by 1.8% to 42.2 billion. Net income excluding minority interest on underlying basis grew 27.1% to KES 36.7Bn.
On a reported basis, net income excluding minority interest contracted by 17.7% to KES 28.1 billion, weighed down by the impact of Ethiopia’s ongoing foreign exchange regime reforms and hyper inflationary accounting.
Safaricom Group’s mobile connectivity business, comprising of voice, data and SMS, contributed 52.2% of revenue at KES 93.9 billion, while M-PESA contributed 42.9%, at KES 77.2 billion.
In Ethiopia, where Safaricom now has a network covering 46% of the population, the customer base grew by 47.3% to hit 6.1 million monthly active customers, while data usage excelled, closing at 6.6GB per average user compared to Kenya’s 4.1GB.
To mitigate against the short-term impact of the ongoing foreign exchange regime reforms, Safaricom Ethiopia has taken several steps, including renegotiating foreign currency-denominated contracts, onboarding local suppliers for certain products and services, and reducing the expatriate’s base.
‘‘This performance, which comes at a time when we are marking 24 years of connecting and transforming Kenyans’ lives, reflects the relentless execution of our strategy,‘’ said Dr. Peter Ndegwa, CEO of Safaricom PLC.
‘’We are proud of the value that we have given our customers through use of technology, and we will continue growing our core business while expanding into new services through our innovative spirit,’’
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