Safaricom to announce full year results on Wednesday

Safaricom is expected to announce its full-year earnings for the year ended March 2018 on Wednesday this week, in what is expected to be another good run for the telecommunications firm.

Analysts at Renaissance Capital forecast a 9 percent year on year growth in service revenues in the second half to Sh115.4billion. The firm grew by 12 percent in the first half-year of the financial year driven by one-offs recorded such as strong messaging revenue helped by elections.

For FY18 we expect 10.2 percent growth in service revenues with 14 percent growth for M-Pesa, the Renaissance Capital analysts say ahead announcement reads in part.

The firm is also forecasting reported core earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin of 47.6 percent for the year and net earnings of Sh51billion.

“The key parameters to look for are changes in overall transaction values for MPESA and the implied fee the company has been charging, signs of revenue coming from the 1Tap deployment and early indications of success of the Masoko e-commerce platform,” the Renaissance Capital report adds in part.

Lat year, the firm reported a 27 percent growth in profits after tax to Sh48.4billion. Investors have continued to show confidence in the firm, in what saw its share price hit the high of Sh33.50 mark per piece this year.