Safaricom Plc has recorded a net profit growth for the six months that ended September to Kes 34.2 billion, attributed to increased customer spending and growth in the Ethiopian unit.
This is an increase compared to a 10 percent decline in profit after tax to Kes 33.5 billion recorded during a similar period in 2022.
Customers increased spending after the telecommunication company reduced prices.
Safaricom has cut data prices, outgoing calls per minute, and the M-Pesa tariff by 65 percent, 44 percent, and 61 percent since 2020.
Safaricom Chief Executive Officer(CEO) Peter Ndegwa noted that the company has delivered a great set of results largely by supporting its customers with enhanced value and reduced prices on its products and services.
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“We appreciate that everyone is going through a hard time and are committed as a business to support our customers cope. The reduced prices have seen our customers use more of our services hence the double-digit growth in profitability and revenue.”
Increased revenue came when Safaricom Ethiopia rolled out M-Pesa services in the country.
For instance, the Ethiopian unit registered 1.2 million customers on the platform in less than two months.
“This confirms what we have been saying about Ethiopia in terms of how it will significantly support our growth into the future. We are looking to maintain this momentum in the second half of the year,” he said.
In September, Ethiopia’s data usage was higher than Kenya’s, with 4.3 gigabytes per customer compared to 3.7 for Kenya.
“We are particularly impressed with the usage levels in mobile data. Such levels were only realized in Kenya after close to 10 years of operations,” Ndegwa said.
