Big data growth for Vodacom
Vodacom announced its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2008. Some highlights of its results include:
— Total customers increased by 13.1% to 35.7 million
— Customers increased by 8.4% to 25.2 million in South Africa
— Revenue increased by 14.0% to R26.0 billion
— Profit from operations increased by 12.5% to R6.4 billion
— EBITDA increased by 13.9% to R8.7 billion
— Net profit after taxation increased by 3.2% to R3.8 billion
— Cash generated from operations increased by 15.6% to R8.0 billion
— Interim dividend declared to Group shareholders increased by 9.1% to R3.0 billion
Commenting on the results, Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys said: “I’m pleased with our performance over the past six months, with strong growth evident in all key areas including customer numbers, revenue and profits. “
The total number of Vodacom customers increased 13.1% to 35.7 million and revenue increased 14.0% to R26.0 billion. Total ARPU increased 5.7% to R111 and South African ARPU increased 8.2% to R132, driven by strong growth in data revenue and as a result of the application of a more aggressive prepaid deletion rule.
The data segment continued to grow rapidly, with revenues up 43.3% on last year and now accounting for 13.1% of Vodacom’s service revenue.
The Group announced two important acquisitions during the period under review, both of which are part of Vodacom’s strategy to move from a mobile-centric company to one that supplies the total communications needs of its customers. In addition to voice services, these needs centre around managing data networks and outsourcing IT applications such as storage and security. Summarising these acquisitions, Pieter Uys said:
“Vodacom has seen a number of significant changes over the past few months. As we evolve, we’ve increased the non-voice share of our business and increased the portion of our business coming from high growth markets outside South Africa. With the intended acquisitions of Gateway Communications and StorTech announced in August, we have opened up further opportunities in servicing the total communications needs of corporate clients and we have gained footholds in important new markets across Africa.”
Another significant event that took place during the half-year was the completion of Vodacom’s R7.5 billion BEE transaction.
“Vodacom is committed to meaningful transformation in South Africa and we were delighted to conclude this major transaction. The YeboYethu public offer, a large component of the transaction, proved hugely popular and was almost three times oversubscribed. We were particularly successful in promoting broad-based ownership, gaining more than 100,000 new shareholders – almost 60% of which had applied for the minimum number of shares”, said Uys.
Looking to the future, Uys noted that a landmark point has been reached with mobile SIM card penetration in South Africa estimated to have reached 100% of the population. People penetration levels are typically much lower, but this development underlines the Group’s strategy of developing new growth opportunities.
“We are the market leader in South Africa and this will always be our home base, but we also need to look elsewhere for growth. The Vodafone transaction announced two weeks ago is an important step forward. Not only do we gain from closer ties with the world’s leading mobile communications company, we will also be their exclusive investment vehicle for sub-Saharan Africa. We believe that this ensures a bright future for Vodacom.”
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