Safaricom PLC has announced KES28.1 billion in net income attributable to equity holders for the six months ended September 30th 2024. 

The strong performance was driven by double digit growth in the Kenyan unit, where service revenue grew by 12.9 percent to KES177.5 billion, resulting in Earnings Before Interest and Taxes and Net income growing by 18 percent to KES79.2 billion, and 14.1 percent to KES47.5 billion respectively.

"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. We are proud of the value that we have given our customers through use of technology, and we will continue growing our core business while expanding into new services through our innovative spirit," said Dr. Peter Ndegwa, CEO Safaricom PLC.

In the period under review, the Nairobi Securities Exchange listed company saw group service revenue grow by 13.1 percent to KES179.9 billion, while group Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) grew by 1.8 percent to KES42.2 billion. Net income excluding minority interest on underlying basis grew 27.1 percent to KES36.7 Billion. 

On a reported basis, net income excluding minority interest contracted by 17.7 percent to KES28.1 billion, weighed down by the impact of Ethiopia’s ongoing foreign exchange regime reforms and hyper inflationary accounting.

Safaricom Group’s mobile connectivity business, comprising of voice, data and SMS, contributed 52.2 percent of revenue at KES93.9 billion, while M-PESA contributed 42.9 percent at KES77.2 billion.

Adil Khawaja, Safaricom’s Board Chairman said, "The Board is pleased with the great performance recorded in the period under review. We remain focused on our vision of becoming Africa’s leading purpose-led technology company as we advance our propositions in both Ethiopia and Kenya."

In Ethiopia, where Safaricom now has a network covering 46 percent of the population, the customer base grew by 47.3 percent to hit 6.1 million monthly active customers, while data usage excelled, closing at 6.6GB per average user compared to Kenya’s 4.1GB.

To mitigate against the short-term impact of the ongoing forex regime reforms, Safaricom Ethiopia has taken several steps including renegotiating foreign currency denominated contracts, onboarding local suppliers for certain products and services and reducing the expatriate’s base.

Key Highlights – Safaricom Group (Including Ethiopia)

• Service Revenue: KES179.9Bn, +13.1% YoY
• Voice revenue: KES40.9Bn, +4.5% YoY
• M-PESA revenue: KES77.2, +16.6% YoY
• Mobile data revenue: KES37.6Bn, +21.5% YoY
• Total customer base: 52.0Mn, +7.8% YoY
• One-month active M-PESA customers: 40.9Bn, +4.5% YoY
• One-month active mobile data customers: 39.8Bn, +10.8% YoY

Net Income on underlying basis (excluding IAS 29 and impact of FX regime reforms in Ethiopia

• Safaricom Group excluding Minority Interest: KES36.7Bn, +21.7% YoY
• Safaricom Plc Kenya: KES47.5Bn, +14.1% YoY

• Safaricom PLC Kenya Operating Free Cash Flow: KES80.6Bn, +41.4% YoY