VODACOM has posted a 4.5 percent increase in its annual revenue to R102.7 billion on the back of growth in new services such as financial and digital services.
Flagging the coming financial year, group chief executive Shameel Joosub said it promised to be significant, with the release of long-awaited spectrum.
For the year ended March 2022, the mobile operator posted a full-year dividend of R8.50 per share, a 3 percent increase compared to the previous year. A final dividend of R4.30 was declared. Net profit increased by 3.9 percent to R17.7bn.
Headline earnings per share improved by 3.4 percent to 1 013 cents per share, while operating profit increased by 2.1 percent to R28.2bn.
Joosub said: “We are pleased with the result given the strong prior-year comparative, which was associated with more stringent lockdowns. We added 1.1 million prepaid customers in the year and focused our efforts on keeping customers engaged and active on the network for additional days."
Vodacom added 5.9 million customers, to serve a combined 129.6 million customers across the group.
Joosub said Vodacom’s investment in network infrastructure to cope with significant increases in mobile data traffic volumes underpinned the uptick in group service revenue.
"In South Africa, revenue grew by 5.3 percent to R80.8 billion on the back of growth in new services, continued demand for connectivity and incremental wholesale revenue," he said.
New services, such as financial and digital services, fixed and Internet of Things (IoT), grew 8.5 percent and contributed R8.4bn, or 14.4 percent, of South Africa’s service revenue, Joosub said.
Vodacom said service revenue growth was 3.3 percent, boosted by a strong performance in Vodacom Business.
Mobile contract customer revenue went up by 5.5 percent to R22bn, with Vodacom Business and consumer contracts contributing to this growth.
Vodacom added 271 000 contract customers in the financial year, mainly within Vodacom Business, and increased average revenue per user (ARPU) by 1.7 percent.
Looking forward, Joosub said the coming financial year promised to be significant now that the long-awaited spectrum auction had concluded in March, which was expected to contribute to the long-term sustainability of the industry in Vodacom group’s largest market.
"In addition to accelerating our rural coverage programme and fast-tracking the roll-out of our 5G network, access to the high-demand spectrum will result in even faster data connectivity and will ultimately assist in delivering greater value for customers, who have already benefited from a 43 percent drop in headline data prices since 2020 and our R50 billion investment in infrastructure over the past five years alone," he said.
Joosub said while Vodacom remained encouraged by the post-Covid-19 recovery taking place in many of the markets in which it operated, the Ukraine-Russia war had significantly impacted commodity prices, heightening inflation risk globally, which would likely impact customer affordability and weigh on economic growth.
Vodacom said the purchase of a 55 percent stake in Vodafone Egypt was nearing conclusion and would help it promote digital and financial inclusion in Egypt through leveraging its financial services platforms, global partnerships and best practices.
The company said M-Pesa, its mobile money service, had 47.1 million customers in the DRC, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique and Tanzania, and processed transactions valued at $324.6bn (around R5 trillion) during the year.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE