Safaricom Announces Sh63.4bn Profit

Kenya’s largest telecommunications company by market share, Safaricom, has reported a 14.7 percent increase in profits for the year ended March 2019 to Sh63.4 billion.

According to the results released on Friday in Nairobi, the two largest contributors to the revenue are M-Pesa revenue which grew by 19.2 percent to Sh74.9 billion and voice service revenue which grew by 0.3 percent to Sh95.9 billion.

In addition to the normal dividend of Sh50 billion, Safaricom also announced a special dividend of Sh24.8 billion.

The following are some of the results from the report presented to investors by CEO Bob Collymore:

• Service revenue rose by 7 percent to Sh240.30bn.
• Voice service revenue increased by 0.3 percent to Sh95.94bn.
• M-PESA revenue increased by 19.2 percent to Sh74.99bn.
• Mobile data revenue grew by 6.4 percent to Sh38.69bn.
• Messaging revenue declined by 1.3 percent to Sh17.50bn.
• Fixed service revenue increased by 22.7 percent to Sh8.19bn.
• Total customer base rose by 7.7 percent to 31.8m.
• 30-day active M-PESA customers increased 10.2 percent to 22.6m.
• 30-day active mobile data customers grew by 6.6 percent to 18.8m.

The telco added that customers have borrowed Sh45 billion from Fuliza. This is a service from Safaricom that enables M-Pesa users to complete transactions despite having insufficient funds in their accounts.

“We are pleased with the strong results we have delivered for the year, building on our long track record of delivering relevant products and putting the customer first. We foresee continued growth in the future,” said Chief Executive Bob Collymore.

Regardless of Safaricom’s strong financial position, Bob Collymore’s succession hangs over the event after an announcement this week that he would be leaving the company for health reasons.