Surge in data boosts Safaricom’s financial performance

A 72.8 per cent rise in data revenue, including from the hugely successful M-Pesa mobile money service, has helped Kenya’s Safaricom post net profits of KES 15.15 billion (US$190 million) for the 12 months ending March. This is a 44 per cent surge in profits from KES 10.5 billion a year earlier, while annual sales jumped 19 per cent to KES 83.96 billion.

Data revenue now accounts for 18.7 per cent of revenue for Kenya’s leading mobile operator, up from 12.9 per cent a year ago. M-Pesa customers rose from 6.48 million to 9.48 million.

Meanwhile the total active subscriber base increased by 18.2 per cent to 15.79 million during the year.

The data growth was supported by the landing of two undersea fibre optic cables TEAMS and SEACOM, as well as further expansion of 3G. Safaricom owns a 22.5 per cent shareholding in TEAMS and leases capacity on SEACOM. These cables provide significant increased capacity, greater speeds and lower cost than the previous satellite connectivity.

Following the launch of the 3G network in the prior period, continued investment in the rollout extended the 3G network to all major towns in the country, bringing the total number of 3G-enabled base stations to 607.

During the period the acquisition of a 100 per cent stake in PacketStream Data Network Limited, a WiMAX service provider, added significant capacity to the existing WiMAX business enabling Safaricom to provide fixed data services to corporates, medium-sized enterprises and individual customers. The WiMAX network now comprises 140 sites offering an extensive nationwide network, thereby complementing the operator’s 3G mobile Internet access.