Safaricom records Ksh.47.5B in half-year profits

Nairobi, 

Thursday, 7 November, 2024

McCreadie Andias, 

Kenya's leading telco, Safaricom PLC has posted a 21.7 per cent growth in net earnings for the first six months of the year, with the Group service revenue growing 14 per cent to hit a half-year high of Sh181.4 billion.

According to the financial results unveiled Thursday morning, the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) listed firm's comprehensive net profit for the period was Sh36.7 billion.

Safaricom's chief executive officer (CEO), Peter Ndegwa, said the telco will continue growing its core business while expanding into new services. "This performance, which comes at a time when we are marking 24 years of connecting and transforming Kenyans’ lives, reflects the relentless execution of our strategy," Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said.

"We are proud of the value that we have given our customers through the use of technology, and we will continue growing our core business while expanding into new services through our innovative spirit."he added. 

The Kenyan unit, however, recorded double digit growth with a net profit of Sh47.5 billion, translating to a 14.1 per cent growth.compared to a similar period last year, with service revenue rising by 12.9% to KSh 177 billion.

This resulted in earnings before interest and tax and net income growing by 18% to KSh 79.2 billion. The group's net earnings could have been higher, but they were hampered by Ethiopia's currency devaluation, which caused a decline of 17.7% to KSh 28.1 billion. 

The value of Ethiopia's currency has fallen by 30 per cent against the US dollar after the government relaxed currency restrictions in a bid to secure a loan of $10.7 billion from the International Monetary (IMF) and World Bank.

The leading telecommunications firm created more than one million jobs for Kenyans during the past year. The report indicated that Safaricom intends to leverage more on technology and M-Pesa to attain core shared values.