Kenyan operator Safaricom reported that it had seen a 38 percent increase in the company’s net profit through the end of the last fiscal year through March 31. The operator says its net profit came in at KES 31.9 billion for the year, up from KES 23.04 billion the previous year.
Overall, Safaricom reported that its total revenue increased 13 percent to KES 163.4 billion from KES 144.7 billion the previous financial period, which included an 8.3 percent growth in subscribers. The company says it currently has around 23 million users.
Safaricom said that revenue increased 15 percent in SMS growth to KES 15.6 billion, which it argued was a result of increased use of SMS budget bundles and SMS-based promotions.
M-Pesa revenue increased by 23 percent to KES 32.6 billion. This was driven by a 14 percent increase in 30 day-active MPesa customers to 13.9 million as well as an increase in the average number of transactions per customer.
Safaricom posted 17 percent growth in EBITDA to KES 71.2 billion from KES 60.9 billion with an EBITDA margin of 43.6 percent, up 1.4 percent.
CEO Bob Collymore said it “expects net income for the financial year 2016 to be in the range of KES 32 billion to 34 billion, and free cash flow expected to be in the range of KES 25 billion to KES 26 billion.”
Joseph Mayton
