By Gitahi Ngunyi
@gitahi_ngunyi
British multinational, Vodafone PLC is set to earn Sh19 billion from Safaricom dividend payout out of the shareable Sh48 billion for the year ended 31st March 2024. Already , British firm which has controlling shareholding in the Kenyan telecom giant through Vodafone Kenya’s 16 billion shares has pocketed close to Sh9.5 billion from an interim dividend of Sh0.55 per share distributed earlier in the year.
According to Safaricom results submitted to Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) earlier today, company directors have recommended a final dividend payout of Sh0.65 totaling to Sh26.04 billion which will be payable on 31st August 2024.
“The Directors have proposed a final dividend in respect of the year ended 31 March 2024 of Sh0.65 per ordinary share amounting to a total of Sh26.04 billion to be approved at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held on 25 July 2024. This brings the total dividend for the year to Sh48.08 billion which represents Sh1.20 per share in respect of the year ended 31 March 2024,” said Safaricom in the condensed audited report signed by company chairman Adil Arshed Khawaja and chief executive officer Peter Ndegwa.
Net profit for the year ended grew 13.7% YoY to Sh84.74Bn supported by M-PESA, Mobile Data and effective cost management initiatives in the period, Safaricom directors said in the condensed report.
According to the report, Voice revenue declined by 1.7 percent to Sh79.51 billion while M-PESA revenue grew strongly by 19.4 percent to Sh139.91 billion driven by increased usage. Mobile data revenue recorded a double-digit growth of 18.0 percent to Sh63.24 billion while ARPU grew marginally by 1.5 percent to Sh242.71.
Data usage per chargeable subscriber increased by 6.4% YoY to 3.79GB while distinct bundle users grew 13.8% to 19.69Mn. Average rate per MB declined further by 4.6% YoY to 6.40cents during the year.
“We continue to drive the penetration of 4G-enabled mobile devices through our device financing program while providing the right content to encourage usage. The number of smart phones on our network grew by 12.9 percent to 22.93 million. 4G devices grew by 27.5 percent to 16.85 million with 49.7 percent using more than 1GB while 5G devices rose by 79.3 percent to 669.71k. Mobile data now accounts for 19.2 percent of Service Revenue,” said the firm.
Fixed service and wholesale transit revenue grew by 12.0 percent to Sh15.11 billion supported by growth in consumer revenue which rose 31.1 percent to Sh6.48 billion and 0.9 percent growth in Enterprise revenue to Sh8.63 billion.
“Our fixed data market share stood at 36.7% as at December 2023 according to the Communications Authority of Kenya sector statistics report. Fibre to the Home (FTTH) and fixed enterprise now account for 4.6% of service revenue,” said the firm.
