Safaricom Records Ksh 32B after Tax Profit

Safaricom's Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore has credited the performance to increased revenues from the company's non-voice services such as M-PESA and mobile internet data.

Safaricom, Kenya's most profitable company, will pay out 80 percent of its profits as dividends to its shareholders.

The number of Safaricom customers increased by eight percent to reach twenty three point three (23.3) million subscribers.

“It’s a lot of stuff, managing our costs well. We have grown our revenues, we have acquired more customers and of course more usage, more people using data, M-PESA,” said Mr. Collymore.

Safaricom’s revenue increased by thirteen percent to one hundred and sixty three point four (163.4) billion shillings, mainly driven by increased revenues from mobile data and the M-PESA mobile money transfer service.

Growth in smartphone use

Earnings from mobile data grew by 59 percent to 14.8 billion shillings while revenues from M-PESA increased by nearly 23 percent to 32.6 billion shillings.

Revenue from its voice services, which accounted for 56 percent of its revenue, increased by a marginal 3.7 percent to 87.4 billion shillings.

“We have seen more than one hundred percent growth in smart phone use and a move from feature phones to smart phones. This has added more value to customers.”

Safaricom shareholders are now set to receive a dividend of 64 cents per share, up from the previous financial year’s dividend of 47 cents a share.

This translates to a record total dividend pay-out of 25.6 billion shillings, representing 80 percent of the profit it has just announced.

Meanwhile, Bob Collymore will remain at the helm of the company for another two years.

“The board kindly agreed to extend my term by two years, so you will have to suffer my jokes until August 2017,” added Mr. Collymore. “I think the legacy should be to build a strong institution of transforming lives, and we wanna make sure this company continues to run”

He took over from Safaricom’s founding CEO, Michael Joseph in August 2010.

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