Vodacom Group FY subscriber base up 13.8% to 57.5 mln

News Wireless Africa 19 MEI 2014
Vodacom Group FY subscriber base up 13.8% to 57.5 mln

Vodacom Group said its subscriber base rose by 13.8 percent to 57.5 million in the year to 31 March, up by some 7 million new customers in the year. Annual revenue rose 8.3 percent to ZAR 75.71 billion, driven by increased volumes from handset financing deals in South Africa, which resulted in equipment revenue growth of 28.6 percent. Service revenue increased 4.7 percent to ZAR 62.05 billion.

Group EBITDA increased by 8.2 percent to ZAR 27.31 billion compared with ZAR 25.25 billion in 2013, with a margin of 36.1 percent. Headline earnings per share were ZAR 8.96, up 2.8 percent. The results were effected by a non-cash charge of ZAR 310 million including a staff component, resulting from the modification of the terms of its black economic empowerment scheme. EPS increased by 1.8 percent to ZAR 9.03, after a profit in the previous year on the disposal of Gateway Carrier Services of ZAR 224 million.

According to Vodacom, the focus has been on developing new products and strategies with the overall objective of broadening its appeal by reducing the cost to communicate. Network investment is a cornerstone of this, as increased capacity allows it to offset lower prices with higher volumes and improved quality. The implementation of this product and investment strategy in South Africa, coupled with strong growth in data, has brought about a resumption of service revenue growth.

Building on this theme, Vodacom said it will be increasing capital investment over the medium term to between 14 percent and 17 percent of group revenue. This accelerated investment plan will focus on expanding the reach and quality of data and voice networks across the group, and on rolling out an expanded suite of business services such as fibre to the business. This investment allocation will depend in part on the ongoing review of mobile termination rates in South Africa.

Last year, the company spent ZAR 10.78 billion on capital equipment, up 14.0 percent from a year earlier and equal to 14.2 percent of revenue. Free cash flow was still up 8.6 percent to ZAR 13.19 billion. 

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