Kenya largest mobile operator, Safaricom on Wednesday announced it has posted 73.6 billion shillings ($686 million) profit after tax.
This year’s financial results by the largest communication company in East and Central Africa, were driven by growth in mobile money transfer service, M-PESA revenue, which grew by 12.6 percent contributing 33.6 percent of the service revenue and mobile data which grew by 12.1 percent to 40.67 billion shillings ($379 million).
Speaking during the results announcement in Nairobi, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa admitted that the financial year 2021 is going to be a challenging due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted businesses in the country.
Ndegwa said unlike the previous years, the company could not give investors a clear guidance on projected earnings and capital expenditure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As a result, we have decided to postpone giving guidance for a few months until visibility on the situation improves. Whilst the situation will remain challenging in the short term, we believe we are well placed to weather this storm,” he said.
“We will leverage the strength of our balance sheet and our resilient business model to ensure we continue to innovate and generate efficiencies for our customers and shareholders,” he added.
In order to shore up the company’s revenue, Safaricom announced plans to launch a 20 shillings ($0.19) a day 4G smart phone package aimed at empowering customers currently on 2G devices to upgrade and enjoy high speed internet connectivity.
“Smartphone device is critical in supporting the new realities brought about by COVID-19. This proposition aims to support Kenyans during and beyond this pandemic by enabling them access more opportunities, be it learning, working or running businesses from the comfort of their homes,” said Ndegwa.
JK/abj/APA