Kenya’s largest telco Safaricom has reported its half-year results for the period ended September 2018 with net profit rising by 20.2% to Sh 31.5 Billion.
Total service revenue for the period rose by 7.7% to Sh 118 Billion largely driven by Mpesa whose revenues grew by 18.2 % to Sh 35.5 Billion. Voice, which accounts for nearly 40% of the telco’s revenues, grew slightly by 1.4% to Sh 48 Billion.
“During the first six months of the year, M-PESA was the main driver of growth, contributing 64% of service revenue growth, further accelerating displacement of traditional voice and messaging services.” Safaricom Chief Executive Bob Collymore said.
Mobile data revenue increased by 10.8% to Sh 19.5 Billion while messaging revenue declined by 1.2% to Sh 8.8 Billion. Fixed data revenue increased by 21% to Sh 3.9 Billion.
The telco’s customer base increased by 1.5% to 29.94 Million while 30-day active M-PESA customers increasing by 8.8% to 21 Million.
“We continue to leverage the power of mobile technology and diversify our sales mix with M-PESA now accounting for 30% of total service revenue, up 3 points year on year. We are excited about the future prospects of portfolio expansion and diversification.” Bob Collymore noted.
