Safaricom saw a 12.1% increase in its mobile data revenues to KES 40.67bn this year ended 31st March 2020, and in a move to increase those revenues, the firm has launched a KES20 a day 4G smartphone plan in partnership with Google to get more users online.
Safaricom’s new deal follows its Maisha Ni Digital campaign that saw over 1 million customers acquiring 4G enabled devices. The firm aims to nab in another 1 million customers to upgrade to 4G enabled devices in this financial year.
According to Mariama Abdullahi, Director, Android and Platforms Partnerships for Africa, “Android’s goal has always been to bring the power of computing to everyone. Access to the opportunities the internet offers is critical for any nations’ economic growth and social inclusion. Majority of Kenyans and Africans at large access the internet via mobile broadband. In Kenya approximately 60% of the mobile phone install base is still on 2G feature phones and 40% smartphones with key barriers to people coming online being device and data affordability. We believe that this collaboration with Safaricom will bring more Kenyans access and the means to partake in the opportunities that exist online.”
The firm saw the profit and total comprehensive income for the year grow 19.5% YoY but normalised for the exceptional share of profit of joint venture, at 14.3% YoY to KES71.7 billion with service revenue growing to KES 251.2billion.
This year’s financial results were driven by growth in M-PESA revenue, which grew by 12.6% contributing 33.6% of the service revenue and mobile data which grew by 12.1% to KES 40.67billion.
Safaricom’s voice service (incoming and outgoing) revenue shrunk by 1.4% to KES 94.45bn while its M-PESA revenue grew by 12.6% to KES 84.44bn. Messaging revenue declined by 12.3% to KES 17.19bn while Fixed service revenue increased by 10.7% to KES 8.97bn.
Safaricom says its one month active overall customer base increased by 9.5% to 28.63mn while one month active M-PESA customers increased 10.0% to 24.91mn while one month active chargeable mobile data customers increased 10.2% to 19.62mn.
The telco saw a 13.5% growth in EBIT (Earnings/profit before Interest) to KES 101.01bn with an EBIT margin of 38.6%, up 3.0ppts YoY and Free Cash Flow up 11.4% to KES 70.27bn.
This move will see Safaricom take on players such as Lipa Later, Aspira, FlexiPay among others who have been providing the same service.
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