Safaricom's profit rises 36% to KSh 58.2 billion, and M-PESA passes KSh 100 billion in six months

Safaricom's profit rises 36% to KSh 58.2 billion, and M-PESA passes KSh 100 billion in six months

Safaricom's net income rose 35.9% to KSh 58.2 billion in the six months to 30 September, on service revenue up 13.1% to KSh 226.1 billion. Kenya did the heavy lifting: its operating profit passed KSh 100 billion in a half-year for the first time, at KSh 101.8 billion, and M-PESA revenue rose 13.6% to KSh 100.1 billion, also a first. Mobile data revenue grew 12.2% to KSh 45.2 billion, with the average customer using 5.3GB a month. The fastest growth is in lending. Fuliza, the M-PESA overdraft run with NCBA and KCB, earned KSh 4.9 billion, up 86%, as borrowers nearly doubled to 17.2 million and it lent out KSh 1.16 trillion. The average Fuliza loan fell 24.6% to KSh 192, and repayments came to 99.6% of what was lent, down from 102.4% a year earlier, so more people are borrowing smaller sums and slightly less is coming back. KCB M-PESA and M-Shwari both lost active customers. Ethiopia is getting closer to paying its way: revenue rose 71.6% to KSh 10.6 billion with 15.4 million customers, and its EBITDA loss shrank 96.5% to KSh 434 million, though it still lost KSh 8.8 billion after depreciation and interest. Safaricom kept its full-year guidance of KSh 180 billion to KSh 187 billion in group operating profit, and still aims for EBITDA breakeven in Ethiopia by the end of its financial year in March 2027. Net debt rose to KSh 193.4 billion from KSh 140.9 billion.

Sources: TechTrends · TechCabal