Vodacom Group H1 revenue grows 6.4%, EBITDA increases 13%

Vodacom Group reported 6.4 percent increase in its revenue for six months ended 30 September to ZAR 39.96 billion. Group EBITDA rose 13.0 percent year-on-year to ZAR 14.7 billion, and the margin was up 2.1 percent points to 36.7 percent. Group operating profit increased 7.8 percent to ZAR 10.17 billion, mainly due to EBITDA growth, partly offset by higher depreciation and amortisation. Capital expenditure rose to ZAR 6.22 billion from ZAR 5.88 billion in 2014, driven by rapidly expanding LTE coverage and increasing speeds. Headline earnings per share were up 6.0 percent to ZAR 4.40. The group declared a ZAR 3.95 interim dividend per share, up 5.3 percent from a year ago. 

Vodacom said its markets continue to be highly competitive, and regulatory and macroeconomic risks remain. EBITDA growth will not likely be sustained at the high rate of 13 percent in the second half. The second half will carry high costs for publicity and network and capability development in fibre and content. Year-over-year growth will be impacted by the stronger performance in the second half of last year where profitability stepped up as a result of efficiency initiatives. Also, there is a further reduction in MTR in South Africa from October, which will have a slightly negative effect on Vodacom's margin in the second half.

Active customers at the African mobile operator increased by 6.8 percent to 65.1 million at the end of September. Data customers reached 28.3 million, helping drive a 33.5 percent increase in data revenue in the first half. In South Africa, Vodacom counted 2 million customers, who it said consume almost three times more data than 3G customers