[ad_1]
Safaricom Plc has recorded the first ever decline in full year earnings ending in March 2020 posting a 6.8 per cent drop in earnings falling to Ksh.68.7 billion from Ksh.73.6 billion last year.
The marginal decline in earnings for the telecom’s firm is largely attributed to the waiver of fees on mobile money transactions of up to Ksh.1000 between the end of March and December last year.
Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndegwa attributes the mobile money revenue drop to fee waiver on transactions below 1000 to mitigate the impact of the health pandemic as free transactions hit Kshs. 4.4 billion.
“We remained resilient in a disruptive year, demonstrating strong operational capacity, diligence and commitment in supporting the country, our customers and shareholders through this uncertain time. Our immediate focus in the year has been to ensure that network capacity, operations and financial services are prioritized to limit disruptions,” said Ndegwa.
The firm’s revenue from M-pesa reduce by 2.1 per cent to Kshs. 82.64 billion while voice revenue also declined to Kshs. 82.55 billion, a 4.6 per cent drop despite a strong recovery in the income head in the second half of the telecom’s financial year.
However, the placement of lockdown saw the telco record a double digit growth in earnings from mobile data which accelerated by 11.5 per cent to Ksh.22.6 billion.
Additionally, fixed data revenue surged by 6 per cent to Ksh.9.5 billion on the momentum of FTTH due to the rise in home schooling and working from home.
Ndegwa said that they have invested Ksh.339 million in supporting the country through their different foundations in addition to the free mobile-money transfers adding that their most critical support was keeping their network stable.
Source link
