Safaricom has recorded a Ksh33 billion profit in half-year financial results to September 2020, a six percent drop as compared to the same period last year.
Publicizing the results on Monday, Safaricom attributed the drop to the zero-rating of M-Pesa transaction below Ksh1,000 and a drop in voice calls.
M-Pesa recorded a revenue of Ksh35.9 billion as compared to Ksh42 billion similar period in 2019, a year on year (YoY)decline of 14.5 per cent.
According to Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa, voice revenues declined by 6.5 per cent YoY, while messaging declined 6.9 per cent YoY in line with global industry trends.
Voice and messaging now stand at 40.0 per cent of service revenue.
Mobile data grew 14.1 per cent YoY even as more customers resorted to work from home, which increased demand for mobile data and internet.
One month active Mobile data customers grew 11.6 per cent YoY to Ksh22.91 million, while distinct data bundle customers grew 22.7 per cent YoY to Ksh15.68 million.
Active 4G devices grew 56.0 per cent YoY while 4G devices using more than 1GB in the telco’s network grew 60.6 per cent YoY.