JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Vodacom Group said on Tuesday its third-quarter revenue rose 14.8%, supported by the South African telecoms operator’s acquisition of Vodafone Egypt.
Vodacom, majority-owned by Britain’s Vodafone, said group revenue rose to 30.7 billion rand ($1.76 billion) in the quarter ended Dec.31. On a normalised basis, revenue grew 4.7%.
Vodafone Egypt was consolidated from Dec. 8, contributing over 1.8 billion rand to group service revenue and was a key factor, alongside currency gains, in the 16.1% growth in group service revenue, Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO said.
Vodacom bought a 55% stake in the Egyptian arm of Vodafone for 43.6 billion rand in 2021, the largest deal in the telecoms operator’s history.
The company’s service revenue also benefited from growth in its data and financial services, the fastest growing contributor to the group’s suite of new businesses.
Financial services revenue jumped 30.6% to reach 2.6 billion rand, largely on the back of demand for its mobile money M-Pesa platform across its international portfolio as well as double-digit growth in insurance policy and airtime loan sales in South Africa, Joosub added.
In South Africa, Vodacom’s largest market, service revenue grew 3%, supported by its mobile prepaid business despite electricity availability challenges and consumers battling higher inflation.
($1 = 17.4114 rand)
(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Kim Coghill and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
