Safaricom has recorded an increase in net profit by 12.2 per cent to post Sh77 billion in the financial year that ended in December 2021.
However, the telco’s net earnings dropped by 1.7 per cent to Sh67.49 billion.
According to the chairman of the board of directors, Michael Joseph the strong set of the results delivered were attributed to strong execution of five-year strategy despite the challenging operating environment brought about by the global Covid-19 pandemic.
The upward recovery is banked on unlocking opportunities especially from micro- and small-medium enterprises.
“These achievements are as a result of placing our customers at the heart of our business priorities.
The board will continue to uphold and guide management towards living true to our commitment of being a sustainable purpose driven business,” said Michael.
During the year, M-Pesa revenue rebounded strongly recording a 30.3 per cent year to year growth to Sh107.69 billion.
This was supported by resumption to charging of previously zero-rated transactions beginning January 2021.
According to the telco, the increased usage has continued to fuel growth as one-month active M-Pesa Average Revenue per user rose by 18.9 per cent while chargeable transactions per month per customer grew by 16.6 per cent.
Total M-Pesa transactions value grew by 34.0 per cent year over year Shs29.55Trillion while volume of transactions grew by 34.9 per cent year over year to Sh15.75 billion.
Mobile data revenue recovered strongly in the second half financial year 2022 which grew by 10.0 per cent year over year to Sh24.81 billion, 6.3 per cent in the half financial year 2022 to Sh23.63 billion and 8.1 per cent year over year to Sh48.44 billion.
The increase was supported by Customer Value Management initiatives driving personalised offers to their customers.
Average rate per MB declined further by 31.2 per cent to 8.88 cents while usage per chargeable data subscriber grew 60.5 per cent to 2.3GB.
Mobile data increased by 10.4 per cent to Sh205.73 while active 4G devices rose by 29.3 per cent to Sh10.95 million of which 51.3 per cent are 4G handsets using more than 1GB.
According to the telco, data customers using more than 1GB in their network grew by 26.5 per cent to Sh7.7 million. Mobile data now accounts for 17.2 per cent of Service Revenue.
“I am proud that our growth and achievements this financial year are attributed to prioritising the needs, aspirations and hopes of our customers alongside investments in our network infrastructure.
Our focus this year was to embed customer obsession at the core of our culture delivering superior customer experiences,” said the Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom.
Capital expenditure for the year ended on March 31, 2022 stood at Sh49.78 billion growing by 42.4 per cent.
Out of it, Sh10.4 billion was spent in setting up network in Ethiopia in where Safaricom established their first cross-border investment in Ethiopia.
This happened after a period of negotiations and with the support and goodwill of the government of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Communications Authority.
The firm is making progress in terms of establishing a mutually beneficial partnership with Ethio Telecom on the key terms for interconnection, transmission capacity, and tower & power sharing.
“Beyond growth this year, we are firmly on course towards our journey of transitioning into a purpose-led technology company by 2025 guided by our purpose of Transforming Lives.
I would like to thank my colleagues at Safaricom for their dedication and hard work put in the year to deliver such strong results and our customers for walking the journey with us,” added Ndegwa.
“Safaricom remains committed to investing in a superior network quality for customers and deepening mobile internet penetration through enhancing network coverage, increasing 4G handset penetration and driving affordability of data.
Our 4G population coverage now stands at 97 per cent and smart phones on our network grew 10.2 per cent to Sh18.5 million.”
