The Vodacom group reports that group revenue is up 8,7% to R21,741-billion with service revenue up 8,9% to R17,224-billion for the quarter ended 31 December 2015.
Droup data revenue increased 27,5% to R5,52-billion, representing 32% of service revenue.
Group active customers are up 6,8% to 65,2-million and active data customers grew 14,5% to 30,3-million.
In South Africa, service revenue grew 7,2% to R12,707-billion, with ARPU stable as data revenue contribution increased and voice revenue improved.
International service revenue increased 15,2% to R4,581-billion, representing 26,6% of group service revenue.
Group capital expenditure for the nine month period at R9,473-billion, or 15,4% of group revenue.
Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO, comments: “We successfully executed on our strategy and achieved another quarter of improving revenue trends. The two biggest highlights in the quarter are the accelerated service revenue growth of 7,2% in South Africa and the 6,8% increase in the Group customer base to 65,2-million.
“In South Africa, the take-up of our personalised offer ‘Just for You’ was excellent and contributed to the 15,9% reduction in effective voice rates. The international segment delivered robust service revenue growth of 15,2%.
“Our performance in the quarter reflects the positive impact from our substantial network investment of R9,5-billion across all our operations in the nine months. We have expanded our network coverage and increased data speeds to secure network leadership.
“Customer demand for high speed mobile data is growing across our footprint, supporting a 27,5% increase in group data revenue. Active data customers increased 14,5% to 30,3-million as we increased sales of more affordable data devices in the quarter.
“We expect revenue growth to taper slightly into our last quarter of the financial year due to a stronger prior year comparative and a weaker outlook for the consumer in South Africa due to the drought and weaker exchange rate,” Joosub adds.
