admin
Safaricom Plc., a unit of Vodacom Group Ltd, posted a 14 percent increase in net income for the six months through September as revenue growth from mobile money was hurt by a state crackdown on sports betting.
Kenya’s biggest company by market value reported 35,7 billion shillings ($345,7 million) in profit, compared with 31,2 billion shillings a year ago, as service revenue grew 5 percent to 124,3 billion shillings, slower than a year earlier.
Growth of income from M-Pesa, Safaricom’s mobile-money product, was limited at 18 percent to 41,97 billion shillings as the government tightened oversight over sports-betting companies, which rely on mobile-money transactions for operations.
“Excluding gaming, M-Pesa grew at a very impressive 20,9 percent year-on-year, which is more impressive than the 18,9 percent in the previous year,” Chief Financial Officer Sateesh Kamath said.
M-Pesa accounts for 34 percent of the company’s revenue. — Bloomberg.
Online Reporter