Vodacom Group saw its revenue increase by 4.2 percent year-on-year to ZAR 49.85 billion in the six months to 30 September, as strong normalised growth of 7.9 percent was partially offset by rand appreciation. Net profit from associate and joint ventures declined 36.1 percent to ZAR 1.64 billion, hurt by a ZAR 805 million one-off deferred tax rate adjustment in the prior period and forex headwinds.
EBITDA increased by 3.3 percent to ZAR 20.08 billion, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 40.3 percent, down slightly from 40.6 percent in 2020. Net profit declined by 4.3 percent to ZAR 8.87 billion.
Vodacom added 6.2 million customers, to serve a combined 129.9 million customers at the end of September, including Safaricom on a 100 percent basis. The M-Pesa platform, including Safaricom, processed USD 301.9 billion in transaction value over the last twelve months, with transaction value up 31.2 percent in the second quarter.
Headline earnings per share declined 5.1 percent to ZAR 5.05 from ZAR 5.32 in 2020, but when adjusted for the one-off deferred tax rate adjustment in the prior period, grew 3.0 percent. Capital expenditure rose by 5.6 percent to ZAR 6.92 billion from ZAR 6.55 billion in 2020.
Vodacom declared an interim dividend of ZAR 4.20 per share, up 1.2 percent.
Vodacom said its International operations delivered a strong recovery, with normalised service revenue growth up 9.0 percent, underpinned by a return to charging for M-Pesa transactions and strong data demand. Reported service revenue of ZAR 10.7 billion was down 6.1 percent, negatively impacted by the rand’s recovery. The customer base increased 10.1 percent to 42.5 million, with net additions of 2.2 million in the second quarter, reflecting strong commercial traction across the portfolio.
Looking ahead, Vodacom says its focused on the development of diverse service offerings and M&A deal completion. Vodacom said it will also continue to engage with Tanzanian authorities regarding the introduction of mobile money transaction levies in the country so as not to interrupt the progress made in the last decade in reducing barriers to financial inclusion.
