Vodacom's earnings jump 40% with Safaricom on its books, and 18% once you compare like with like
Vodacom Group's results for the six months to 30 September are the first since Safaricom became its subsidiary on 30 June, when the South African operator raised its stake to 55%. EBITDA rose 40% to R42.7 billion (about US$2.6 billion), group revenue 25.6% to R102.5 billion and service revenue 29.4% to R85.1 billion. Much of that is accounting: the comparison period had no Safaricom in it. Assuming Safaricom had been consolidated throughout, EBITDA grew 18% and service revenue 13.3%. On that basis Vodacom is growing more slowly than its rivals: Airtel Africa reported 23.5% underlying EBITDA growth in constant currency for its September half-year, and MTN Group 22.9% over nine months. Safaricom is the engine inside the numbers. Its own half-year showed service revenue of KSh226.1 billion, up 13.1%, EBITDA of KSh129.2 billion, up 27.5%, net income up 35.9% to KSh58.2 billion and operating free cash flow up 59.1% to KSh74.5 billion. Kenya brought in KSh216 billion of the service revenue and Ethiopia KSh10.6 billion. For Kenyans the practical point is who now sets direction: Safaricom's results, and decisions about M-PESA, are consolidated into a Johannesburg-listed group.
Sources: TechTrends
