Safaricom PLC lifted its interim dividend to a record KSh 0.85 per share for FY2026, 54.5% higher than last year’s KSh 0.55, after posting its strongest half-year profits on record, a move that immediately pushed its shares to their highest level in almost three years.
- •Investors priced in the upgrade instantly with Safaricom shares jumping 4.41%to KSh 31.95, after touching an intraday high of KSh 32.50, their loftiest level since 11 August 2022.
- •Trading clustered around the stock, with 19.2 million shares worth KSh 614.1 million changing hands, close to half of total equity turnover for the session.
- •At the intraday peak, its market value briefly crossed US$ 10.09 billion, making Safaricom the only company in Kenya — and in Central and Eastern Africa — to reach that threshold twice, first in 2021 and again in 2026.
Book closure is set for 25 February 2026, with payment due on or about 31 March 2026. The decision signals confidence in cash generation even as the group continues heavy network investment, including in Ethiopia.
At the close, Safaricom was valued at KSh 1.279 trillion (US$ 9.91 billion) based on 40.065 billion outstanding shares and an exchange rate of 129.02.
Earnings that justified the payout
The dividend hike rests on a step-change in profitability for the six months ended 30 September 2025. Net income surged 52.1 percent to KSh 42.78 billion, the highest interim profit in Safaricom’s history, while EBITDA climbed 34.9 percent to KSh 101.29 billion as margins improved on a more digital revenue mix.
For the first time, mobile data revenue of KSh 44.47 billion overtook voice revenue of KSh 41.09 billion, confirming Safaricom’s transition from a voice-led to a data-led business. Group service revenue rose 11.1 percent to KSh 199.87 billion, supported by heavier data use and wider smartphone adoption.
M-PESA remained the core growth engine. Revenue increased 14 percent to KSh 88.1 billion, while transaction volumes jumped 26.5 percent to 21.87 billion. Active Lipa Na M-PESA merchants climbed 32 percent to 870,700, and Pochi la Biashara tills surged 73 percent to 1.5 million, deepening Safaricom’s payments footprint among small businesses.
Customer scale expanded further. Total customers grew nearly 20 percent to 63.24 million, with 30-day active users up 16.8 percent to 46.44 million, giving Safaricom a broader base to monetize data and fintech services.
Kenya profits, Ethiopia scale-up
Safaricom Kenya’s service revenue rose 9.3 percent to KSh 192.13 billion, and net income increased 22.9 percent to KSh 59.10 billion, effectively financing the higher payout.
Ethiopia continued to scale rapidly but stayed in an investment phase. By December 2025, three-month active customers reached 12.19 million (+71.7% YoY), while one-month active users rose 70.4 percent to 9.64 million. Mobile data usage deepened to 6,997 MB per chargeable subscriber, and M-PESA adoption gathered pace with 2.36 million one-month active users and 364 million transactions in the nine months to December.
Nine-month service revenue in Ethiopia hit KSh 9.68 billion, up 54.2 percent year on year (+143.4% in constant currency). However, heavy network roll-out costs and sharp birr depreciation kept the operation loss-making. As a result, the interim dividend was funded by Safaricom Kenya, not Ethiopia.
Safaricom maintained full-year EBIT guidance of KSh 144–150 billion, indicating management expects profit momentum to persist through the rest of the financial year.
