Safaricom half-year net profit hits Sh26.2bn

Safaricom has announced a 9.5 per cent increase in net profit to Sh26.2 billion for the six months ended September 30.

Safaricom chief financial officer Sateesh Kamath, sitting in for CEO Bob Collymore who has taken sick leave, says the performance is backed by a strong performance in mobile money M-Pesa and data while traditional services like voice remained resilient.

M-Pesa revenues grew by 16.2 per cent to Sh30.05 billion in the period while data income rose from Sh13.4 billion to Sh17.55 billion. Voice revenue, which is still Safaricom’s biggest income stream, grew from Sh45.7 billion to Sh47.35 billion.

“M-Pesa and Mobile data are becoming the engines of growth,” said Mr Kamath at a media briefing Friday morning.

Bob's health

Chairman Nicholas Ng'ang'a urged an end to speculation over Mr Collymore's health, whom he said went for specialised medical attention abroad on the advice of his doctors.

Mr Ng'ang'a said Collymore's absence for "a few months" leaves no vacuum at the company.

“Bob’s style of management is very strong, he's empowered managers adequately hence as far as the company itself is concerned it's in strong hands. There is no vacuum," said Mr Ng'ang'a.