Safaricom Net Profit Rises By 18pc To 45 Billion

Safaricom on Wednesday posted a Sh45.1 billion net profit in the year ended March 31, 2017 representing an 18.3 per cent increase from the previous year.

MPESA was the largest revenue contributor in the period under review growing by 32.7 per cent to Sh55.1 billion driven by 14.6 per cent increase in 30 day active customers to 19 million as well as a 35 per cent growth in monthly usage per customer to 10 transactions per month.

Mobile data revenue on the other hand grew by 38.5 per cent to Sh29.3 billion while voice service revenue went up by 2.9 percent to Sh93.5 billion. SMS revenue however declined by 3.7 per cent to Sh16.7 billion with total customer base hitting 28.1 million.

“Voice, M-PESA and Data continue to show growth although we have seen slight decline in SMS revenue,” Collymore said.

Speaking during the release of the results, Collymore further said 3 million additional Kenyans joined Safaricom in the past year.

Safaricom board further proposed a dividend payout of Sh0.97 a share from Sh0.76 last year.

“We continue to focus on building a resilient business that can weather the regulator and economic forces that are currently shaping the commercial environment,” said Safaricom Chief Executive Officer, Bob Collymore.

Going forward the firm is set to roll-out its MPESA tap-and-go card throughout the country.

“We have already rolled it out in Nakuru and have about 13,000 card holders, we are going all out going forward,” Collymore told investors on Wednesday.