TANZANIA: VODACOM Tanzania’s annual profit has increased by 19.9 per cent for the year ended March this year, pushed up by increased revenue.
The telco’s annual integrated report released yesterday for the twelve months ended March showed the company’s year-on-year growth of 53.4bn/- up from 44.5bn/- recorded in the same period last year.
The increase is attributed to the growth of the company’s revenue to 1.27tri/- until the end of March this year from 1.07tri/- posted last year.
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The year-on-year revenue growth of 18.6 per cent is underpinned by the increase in the company services revenue by 19.4 per cent.
The company’s Chairman Rtd Judge Thomas Mihayo said the performance is delivered through the company’s various M-Pesa service offerings, innovative activities in digitizing the critical sectors such as agriculture, health, education and its continued investment in network infrastructure.
“Through these initiatives, we are not only strengthening our long-term resilience and opportunities for growth, but also empowers people and makes a valuable contribution to the country’s economy,” Mr Mihayo said in a report.
He added that this year’s profit will enable the Board to recommend that shareholders approve a final dividend of at least 50 per cent of post-tax profit for the year, in accordance with the telco’s stated dividend policy.
The report showed M-Pesa revenue grew by 27.8 per cent to 456.3bn/- until the end of March from 357.1bn/-. The growth was supported by a 24.1 per cent increase in customers and ARPU growth of 3.0 per cent.
Equally, the telco’s mobile data revenue was another key contributor to this year results up by 26.9 per cent to 347.3bn/-, from 273.7bn/- posted in the prior year.
Additionally, Digital and value-added services (VAS) revenue, which includes the airtime advance service increased by 8.2 per cent to 38.7bn/- from 35.7bn/- recorded in the same period last year.
The growth according to the report was underpinned by increased product penetration from the diverse portfolio of digital and VAS products, supported by the commercial initiatives.
Vodacom Tanzania’s Managing Director Mr Philip Besiimire said the strong performance this year has been aided by a stable political and policy environment, as well as specific positive regulatory developments.
“Such as the removal of levies on peer-to-peer transfers and a reduction in right-of-way fees for passing communications infrastructure along the roads.
“The government’s pro-investment, private sector-supportive growth policies and its strong levels of public investment, have provided valuable policy certainty, encouraging us to plan and invest in the country’s future with confidence,” he said.
