Vodacom Tanzania posted a net profit for the financial year ended 31 March of TZS 47.6 billion thanks to M-Pesa revenue growth and data business, according to Daily News. In its IPO prospectus, it had projected profit of TZS 47.38 billion, up from TZS 29.1 billion or a change of 62.5 percent. Instead, it went up 63.4 percent. Managing Director Ian Ferrao said that M-Pesa revenue grew 11 per cent to TZS 249.6 billion, underpinned by an increase of 936,000 active customers.
Ferrao said despite the negative impact of excise duty imposed in July 2016, M-Pesa delivered strong growth throughout the year. It aims to maintain the encouraging momentum of the second half of the past year by continuing to focus investments on its key drivers, namely data, M-Pesa and enterprise. The expansion of its mobile money ecosystem has caused an 18 percent rise in the number of transactions, with over 8.0 million customers who make up 63 percent of Vodacom’s active customer base. The results enabled earnings per share to grow 63 percent to TZS 28.3 billion for the year ending March.
Vodacom projects its net profit in 2018 will reach TZS 95.86 billion, up 102.8 percent, fuelled by data demand as smart devices become more accessible while 3G and 4G networks reach more customers. Currently high speed 4G covers Dar es Salaam but plans are afoot to explore opportunities for spectrum acquisition which will enable the roll-out of the 4G into other regions.
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