Econet Wireless sees 10% profit drop in the six months to end-August

Econet Wireless, Zimbabwe’s leading mobile operator, reported a near 10 per cent fall in half-year profit in the six months to end-August 2013. The operator said it was affected by slowing growth in voice revenue and a one-time licence renewal fee.

The company’s profit during the period totalled US$70.56 million, down from US$78 million the previous year.

The number of subscribers rose to 8.5 million, while revenue grew by 11 per cent to US$376.6 million.

Econet also paid US$137 million to renew a 20-year licence in July, with CEO Douglas Mboweni stating the cellco’s mobile money transfer service, Ecocash, had processed US$1.2 billion in transactions in the last six months and now contributed 10 per cent of total revenue