Vodacom Group Q3 Revenue Rises 1.5 Percent, Underpinned By International Operations

Vodacom Group revenue increased by 1.5 percent to ZAR 23 billion in the third quarter ended 31 December 2018 from ZAR 22.65 billion in the same period of 2017. Service revenue rose by 2.4 percent to ZAR 18.9 billion from ZAR 18.40 billion a year earlier. Group customers climbed by 7.1 percent to 79 million, being up by 5.4 percent in South Africa and by 9.3 percent in international operations.

Group data revenue increased 2.2 percent to ZAR 6.8 billion and international data revenue grew 25.4 percent.

Group CEO Shameel Joosub said that there was overall international growth. Excluding Safaricom, Vodacom added 198,000 customers in the three-month period and has added 5.2 million customers to the Vodacom network in the past year, Joosub said. He said that promotions in South Africa have hit revenue in the quarter, including the SummerGigs campaign.

There were improved trends in Tanzania and strong growth in Mozambique and the DRC. International operations account for 27.5 percent of group service revenue, and international service revenue climbed by 13.2 percent, underpinned by M-Pesa and data growth.

Mobile network operations, excluding Vodacom Business Africa, grew 15.2 percent. It added 449 000 customers in the quarter, reaching 35.2 million, up 9.3 percent year-on-year.

With 4G now available in every market, data revenue grew 25.4 percent driven by a 15.7 percent increase in data customers to 18.5 million, representing 52.7 percent of the customer base. Data traffic grew 40.3 percent. Mobile data revenue comprised 16.5 percent of international service revenue.

Vodacom generated M-Pesa revenue of ZAR 851 million, with growth accelerating to 30.3 percent, contributing 16.4 percent of service revenue. The group added M-Pesa 227,000 customers in the quarter, reaching 13.4 million. ―Telecompaper