Telkom has published its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2015, which show that mobile data revenue\u00a0increased 69% to R711 million.<\/p>\n
The company’s\u00a0net revenue increased 1.2% to R13.45 billion, while\u00a0EBITDA, excluding the one-off items, improved 15.1% to R5 billion.<\/p>\n
“Mobile service and subscription revenue increased 41% to R1.2 billion,” said Telkom.<\/p>\n
Telkom’s drive to reduce costs also produced positive results, with operating expenses – excluding depreciation – decreasing 2.3% to R9 billion.<\/p>\n
“During the period under review, Telkom continued with its efforts to transform the company and stabilise revenue. Operating revenue increased by 5.5% compared to the same period last year, spurred on by the continuing growth in the mobile business.”<\/p>\n
Telkom’s fixed line segment did not fare as well, with\u00a0fixed voice revenue decreasing by 3% compared to the same period in 2014. Fixed access lines decreased 5.9%, from 3.53 million to 3.23 million.<\/p>\n
“Data connectivity dropped by more than 5% compared to the same period one year ago, impacted by competitors\u2019 self-provisioning of infrastructure.”<\/p>\n
Excluding revenue from leased lines, fixed data revenue was up more than 4%, though.<\/p>\n
“Telkom also achieved good growth in the consumer business with revenue from ADSL growing in excess of 5%.<\/p>\n
The company said its new wholesale division\u00a0Openserve will continue to modernise and expand its fibre network, and will spend “a minimum of R10 billion on FTTH” in the future.<\/p>\n
Telkom’s debt levels increased over the period, with the main cash outflows including:<\/p>\n
“Capital expenditure rose by 20%, or R2.3 billion, compared to the same period one year ago. These funds went towards the expansion of Telkom\u2019s mobile, fibre, and LTE networks.”<\/p>\n
Telkom-Cell C merger will bring strong competition to Vodacom and MTN<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n