The leading telecommunication company Safaricom on Thursday morning announced that it had recorded a Kshs 52.5 billion profit for the financial year ending March 2023, marking a 22 per cent fall from the Kshs 67.5 billion it recorded last year.
The chairperson of Safaricom Group, Adil Khawaja attributed the decline to challenges caused by the Russia-Ukraine war and the 2022 General Election, among others.
Ethiopia continues to be Safaricom’s biggest expenditure having taken the bulk of the Telco’s cash.
Khawaja said, “Group capital expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2023 stood at Kshs 96.13 billion with Kshs 55.77 billion being investment in rolling out operations in Ethiopia.”
The group’s service revenue grew 5.2% to Kshs 295.69 billion Year on Year (YoY) in FY23, backed by its mobile money product M-PESA, mobile data and fixed data growth.
“We are pleased with our performance in FY23 despite the challenge operating environment characterized by geopolitics with the Russia-Ukraine war, 2022 General Elections in Kenya, macroeconomic challenges and drought which have constrained the consumers’ wallet,” Khawaja added.
The reported confirmed that the Telco’s overall group customers grew 8.1% to 45.89 million while one-month active customers grew 5.3% YoY to 34.54 million.
Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said “We are committed to continue investing in our network infrastructure, broadening our product range, and leveraging emerging technologies to enhance our participation in the digital ecosystem. We will also continue deepening our sustainable business and social responsibility agenda focused on healthcare, education, economic empowerment, the environment and reducing our carbon footprint.”
The Telco’s board at the same time recommended a final dividend of Kshs 0.62 per share.
“The Board of Directors has proposed a final dividend of Kshs 0.62 per ordinary share amounting to Kshs 24.84Bn to be approved at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). This will be in addition to the interim dividend of Kshs 0.58 per ordinary share that was already declared during the year,” said Khawaja.
