Safaricom net profit up by 14.7 per cent to Sh63.4b

Safaricom has reported a 14.7 per cent increase in net profit to Sh63.4 billion for the year ended March 2019.

Service revenue grew by seven per cent to Sh240.3 billion derived largely from outgoing voice calls and Mpesa charges.

Outgoing voice service revenue grew by 0.3 per cent to Sh95.9 billion and Mpesa revenue by 19.2 per cent to Sh74.99 billion. 

While mobile data revenue increased by 6.4 per cent to Sh38.69b, its messaging revenue declined by 1.3 per cent to Sh17.50b an indication that most people are turning to web based platforms like WhatsApp to send messages.

During the year, there was a 7.4 per cent increase in number of customers to 31.8 million, which supported the services revenue of growth of 7.0 per cent.

Fuliza, which allows users with inadequate funds to make purchases or pay utility bills has seen an overwhelming uptake from users.

Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said Kenyans have so far borrowed Sh45 billion Fuliza since its launch in January. A total of 8.8 million users have used the service.

The directors have recommended for approval the payment of a normal dividend per share of Sh1.25 representing a total dividend of Sh50.08 billion.

They also recommended a special dividend per share of Sh0.62 representing total special dividend of Sh24.84 billion.

The telco remitted Sh98.13 billion in duties, taxes and licence fees to the government.