Vodacom Group revenue increased by 5.6 percent to ZAR 44.36 billion in the company's fiscal first half to 30 September. Service revenue rose by 6.1 percent to ZAR 36.77 billion, and EBITDA was up 4.7 percent to ZAR 16.47 billion. The group added 4.8 million customers in the six months, including 2.5 million in South Africa, 2.3 million in international operations and 373,000 at Safaricom, for a total base of over 109 million customers at the end of the period.
Group operating profit increased 0.8 percent to ZAR 11.1 billion. This includes a ZAR 1.4 billion non-cash, non-recurring charge arising from the new BEE deal and net profit from its associate Safaricom. Net profit increased slightly, up 0.7 percent to ZAR 6.76 billion, while headline earnings per share were down 13.5 percent, impacted by the BEE deal and partially offset by contributions from Safaricom, which was included only two months in the prior year. Excluding these transactions headline EPS increased 6.0 percent, Vodacom said. The group declared a ZAR 3.95 per share interim dividend.The group’s capital expenditure totaled ZAR 5.3 billion in the six months, representing 12.0 percent of revenue. That includes ZAR 1.3 billion outside South Africa, which went to supporting demand for data and wider voice coverage and enhancing IT systems to support personalised pricing offers and to deliver on our segmentation strategy.
Vodacom said its international operations performed well, with a strong focus on delivering key strategic priorities, supported by improving macroeconomic trends. Tanzania continues to benefit from strong commercial momentum and robust customer growth despite the intensified pricing pressure from competitors. The DRC and Mozambique both delivered strong results.
International growth
Service revenue at the international business increased by 12.8 percent to ZAR 9.4 billion in the six months, with strong growth in strategic focus areas of data and M-Pesa. The operations added 2.3 million customers in the first half, reaching 34.7 million, up 11.4 percent. Tanzania and the DRC together added 2.1 million customers, while customers in Mozambique increased 18.2 percent.
Data revenue growth was robust at 26.6 percent, with all markets growing above 20 percent. M-Pesa revenue grew strongly by 25.2 percent to ZAR 1.4 billion, contributing 15.1 percent of International service revenue.
EBITDA increased 20.7 percent to ZAR 2.9 billion, while the EBITDA margin expanded by 2.1 percentage points to 30.1 percent, supported by good revenue growth and a continued focus on cost efficiencies through ‘Fit for growth’ savings programme. Improved revenue growth, savings on commissions from airtime purchases through M-Pesa, continued savings in network operating expenses, and savings from lower interconnect costs, are key drivers for margin growth, Vodacom said.
