Kenya’s leading telecommunications company, Safaricom (SCOM.NR), reported a 55% rise in its half-year profit on Thursday, driven by steady growth in its home market and a sharp reduction in losses from its Ethiopia operations.
The group recorded an operating profit of 65.2 billion Kenyan shillings ($505.62 million) for the six months ending September and maintained its full-year guidance.
Continued strong performance in Kenya remained the main profit driver, while the company’s loss in Ethiopia fell by 59% compared to the first half of the previous financial year, which had been significantly affected by the depreciation of the Ethiopian birr, according to Reuters.
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Safaricom, which entered the Ethiopian market in 2022 after the government liberalized its economy to allow foreign competition, expects its presence in Africa’s second most populous country to be a key engine for future growth.
The telecoms firm is partly owned by South Africa’s Vodacom (VODJ.J) and Britain’s Vodafone (VOD.L).
Group service revenue rose to 199.9 billion shillings in the six months to the end of September, up from 179.9 billion shillings a year earlier.
Revenue from its mobile financial service, M-Pesa, increased to 88.1 billion shillings from 77.2 billion shillings in the same period last year.
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Image Credit: African Economy Inc
