Safaricom Group full year total revenue has grown by 12.4pc to stand at Ksh 349.4 billion compared to Ksh 310.9 billion the firm reported over the same period last year.
The year-on-year increase was driven by higher revenue registered in the Kenyan unit whose total revenue contribution stood at Ksh 342.1 billion after growing by 10.7pc compared to Ethiopian unit which pulled in Ksh 7.4 billion in revenue.
“We are pleased with our performance in FY24 despite the tough operating environment com pounded by rising inflation adversely affecting our customers disposable income. Our Group Service revenue grew 13.4pc year-on-year to Ksh 335.35 billion in FY24 mainly supported by M-PESA, Mobile Data and Fixed revenues,” said Dilip Pal, Safaricom PLC Chief Finance Officer.
The Kenya unit which accounts for 97.9pc of total revenue registered an 11.7pc growth in service revenue to Ksh 329.8 billion powered by m-pesa revenue which grew 19.4pc to Ksh 139.9 billion from Ksh 117.2 billion.
On the other hand, mobile data revenue grew 18pc to Ksh 63.2 billion while fixed data grew 12pc to Ksh 15.1 billion. Messaging revenue grew 8pc to Ksh 12.3 billion.
However the firm suffered a 1.7pc year-on-year decline in voice revenue which declined to Ksh 79.5 billion.
While releasing the financial results on Thursday, Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndegwa expressed optimism in the growth of Safaricom Ethiopia which continues to receive a significant capital expenditure.
In the period under revenue, the firm’s total capital expenditure amounted to Ksh 93.5 billion out of which the Ethiopian unit accounted for Ksh 46.2 billion after 17.1pc decline.
“We are extremely pleased with what we have been able to achieve as a group despite the significant startup costs in our Ethiopia business. We expect that from 2025, Ethiopia will start being a significant growth contributor at group level for both top and bottom line,” said Ndegwa.
The firm currently has 2,806 sites across Ethiopia and has 4.4 million monthly active subscribers.
However, despite Kenyan unit registering a 13.7pc growth in net profit to Ksh 84.7 billion, higher operation expenses in Ethiopia saw the unit book Ksh 42.1 billion loss leading to an 18.7pc drop in group’s overall net profit to Ksh 42.7 billion.
“As a result of this growth, the board will recommend a final dividend of 65 cents per ordinary share bringing the total dividend payable for FY24 to one shilling and twenty cents per share, equivalent to Ksh 48.08 billion,” added Adil Khawaja, Safaricom Board Chairman.
