Vodacom revenue rises 6.6% in quarter to December

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Mobile communications company Vodacom said on Tuesday its revenue rose 6.6% to R23.6 billion in the quarter ended December 31 compared to the same period the previous year, supported by a 5.7% increase in service revenue growth.

In a trading update, Vodacom said it added 484,000 customers in South Africa, due to a successful summer campaign, and 1.7 million customers internationally.

South African revenue and service revenue growth rates improved to 5.9% and 4.6% respectively, supported by increased data uptake as the company continue to transform pricing.

Vodacom’s growth explained

International operations delivered service revenue growth of 9%t, with strong growth in data and revenue from its M-Pesa mobile phone-based money transfer offering.

“Our sustained investment programme, aimed at delivering a better experience for customers in each of the countries where we operate, continues to yield results,” Vodacom group chief executive Shameel Joosub said.

“As expected, growth trends improved across a number of metrics in South Africa following the significant impacts over the past year from our ongoing pricing transformation strategy.”

Vodacom is a leading African communications company providing a wide range of communication services, including mobile voice, messaging, data, financial and converged services to over 110 million (including Safaricom) customers.

With its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its mobile network business to include operations in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Lesotho and Kenya, covering a population of over 291 million people.

Through Vodacom Business Africa, it offers business managed services to enterprises in 50 countries.

By African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa