Safaricom Profit Jumps Ahead of Looming Pain From Coronavirus

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) — Safaricom Plc said full-year earnings jumped by 18% as East Africa’s biggest company reported growth in mobile money and data sales ahead of the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Net income was 73.7 billion shillings ($696 million) in the 12 months through March, beating a median analyst estimate of 69.7 billion shillings, the Nairobi-based company said in a statement on Wednesday. Service revenue increased by 4.8%.

The arrival of Covid-19 will have a negative short-term impact on operations, Safaricom said. The company has put aside about 6.5 billion shillings to support Kenyans as businesses close and the economy slows, while the virus hasn’t yet affected the company’s spending plans, Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndegwa said last week.

The shares have declined 12% this year, valuing Safaricom at 1.1 trillion shillings. The company is part-owned by Johannesburg-based Vodacom Group Ltd.

“Revenue growth for the year was driven by a strong performance on M-Pesa and a strong performance on mobile data,” Chief Financial Officer Sateesh Kamath said at a results presentation from the capital, Nairobi.

Source: Bloomberg Business News