Kenya’s leading operator Safaricom has released its financial results for the year ended March 31, revealing 31 per cent growth in profits after tax and promising the largest dividend payment in Kenyan history.
Safaricom said profits were up 31 per cent to KSh23 billion (US$263.9 million), prompting the board to recommend a dividend of KSh0.47 per share – an increase of 52 per cent on the previous year and amounting to a dividend payment of KSh18.83 billion (US$216 million), 82 per cent of net income for the year and the largest dividend payment in Kenyan history.
“Once again we have demonstrated our relentless dedication to growing shareholder returns through superior commercial performance across our entire service portfolio as evidenced by our strong financial results,” said Bob Collymore, chief executive officer (CEO) of Safaricom.
Overall revenue was also up by 16 per cent to KSh144.7 billion (US$1.66 billion) with all revenue segments showing strong growth.
Service revenues expanded by 17 per cent to KSh138.4 billion (US$1.59 billion), with voice service revenues up 12 per cent and non-voice service revenues up by 28 per cent, accounting for 60 per cent and 36 per cent of total service revenues respectively.
Mobile data revenues saw growth of 41 per cent bringing in KSh9.3 billion (US$106.7 million), while fixed line data revenue grew 22 per cent to KSh2.6 billion (US$29.8 million).
SMS revenues grew by 38 per cent to KSh13.6 billion (US$156 million), while the company’s flagship mobile money service M-Pesa saw revenues grow 22 per cent to KSh26.6 billion (US$305.2 million), now contributing 18 per cent of total revenues.
Safaricom said it held 67.9 per cent of the mobile subscriber base in Kenya, of the 76.9 per cent mobile penetration listed by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), with the operator’s customer base growing 11 per cent over the year to 21.6 billion users.
“We continued to deliver on our goal to transform lives by providing unmatched services; we made huge improvements in our network quality; and we deepened financial inclusion with the introduction of Lipa na M-Pesa on the M-Pesa platform,” Collymore said.
The operator made infrastructure investments totalling KSh27.8 billion (US$318.99 million) over the year, under its “Best Network in Kenya” programme, with the CEO saying the operator’s aim is to improve network quality, capacity, and coverage to ensure the best consumer experience.
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