Safaricom Makes History As The First Company In The Region After Earnings Hit Ksh 140 Billion

Safaricom (NSE: SCOM) PLC has announced a KShs 139.9 Billion in its earnings before interest and tax in the period ending March 31^st, 2024.

At a group level, incorporating the startup costs and investments in Safaricom Ethiopia, the group closed at an EBIT of KES.94.9 billion, a 3.5% growth year on year.

The earnings surpassed both the market expectations and the group guidance range of KES129 billion-132 billion. This performance was driven by customer segmentation, public sector digitization, investments in new technologies, and better use of data and analytics to understand and serve customers better.

Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom PLC CEO said: “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.”

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In the period under review, Safaricom PLC Group revenue grew by 13.4% to KShs 335.3 billion, with M-PESA contributing 42.4% of revenue at KShs 140 billion and GSM business contributing 52.7% at Kes.173.9 Billion.

Mr Ndegwa spoke during the announcement of the Full Year 2023/2024 results, which saw net income increase by 13.7% to KShs 84.74 billion for Safaricom Kenya. While the Group net income excluding minority interest increased by 1.2% to KShs 62.99.

Mr. Ndegwa noted that the company’s vision towards a purpose-led technology company was a key factor in investment in new technologies that have enabled in creation of more efficiencies and better customer engagement.

“We can anticipate and serve our customers more intuitively while engaging our communities to solve their societal challenges. As a result of our razor-sharp focus on our customers, we are now a billion-dollar business in Kenya.” Mr. Ndegwa noted.

On Ethiopia, Safaricom CEO noted, “We have doubled our active customer base to 4.4M, we have built a world-class network that is currently almost half Kenya’s size and is on track to meet our license obligations. We are hence pleased with commercial momentum in Ethiopia and proud that we have been able to deliver this momentum with a Safaricom Ethiopia team that is 90% Ethiopians.”

Adil Khawaja, Safaricom Board Chairman, “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 KES.48.08 billion.”

Safaricom has also announced its support towards the flood victims through the M-PESA Foundation. The KShs 30 million will be used to support the initial relief efforts that include vital supplies, food, temporary shelter, medicines, and emergency medical kits in affected areas.

Mr. Khawanja noted that the company would continue to pursue its Purpose of Transforming Lives and engage more with the communities they served.

Key Highlights

• Service Revenue 5.2% to KES 295.7 Bn.
• Voice revenue -2.6% to KES 81.1 Bn
• M-PESA revenue 8.8% to KES 117.2 Bn.
• Mobile data revenue +11.4% to KES 54.0 Bn.
• Total customer base 8.1% to 45.9Mn.
• One-month active M-PESA customers 5.2% to 32.1Mn.
• One-month active mobile data customers 7.0% to 26.1Mn

Net Income

1. Safaricom Group excluding Minority Interest -10.6% to KES 62.3 Bn
2. Safaricom Plc Kenya, +3.0% to KES 74.5 Bn
3. Safaricom PLC Operating Free Cash Flow +4.3% to KES 115.7 Bn.

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