Vodacom group revenue grew 6,4% to R26,7-billion for the quarter ended 31 December 2021.
Group service revenue was up 5,3%, supported by sustained demand for connectivity and growth in new services such as financial services.
In South Africa, service revenue grew 4,5%, underpinned by good growth in Vodacom Business, while international service revenue increased by 6,7%, supported by data and M-Pesa revenue growth.
Financial services revenue increased 12,5% to R2-billion, largely due to the adoption of Vodacom’s South African super-app, VodaPay.
Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO, comments: “The third quarter of our financial year coincided with a fourth wave of milder Covid-19 infections across most of the world but was largely shaped by economies beginning to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
“The group remains committed to focusing on the economic recovery in markets where we operate through the execution of a purpose-led six-point plan,” he adds.
“This plan includes expanding network coverage and resilience, accelerating support to governments, enhancing digital accessibility and digital adoption, supporting our customers as they adapt to new ways of working and promoting financial inclusion.”
Joosub expects that the two strategic acquisitions announced in November last year – a majority interest in Vodafone Egypt and a strategic stake in the fibre assets of Community Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH) – will be instrumental for this plan.
“It is particularly pleasing that our minority shareholders recently overwhelmingly voted in favour of the R41-billion Vodafone Egypt transaction as this presents significant diversification and growth opportunities for shareholders in a substantial and largely unbanked market and is expected to be transformational in our evolution from a telco to a techco,” he says.
“This approval represents an important milestone in our target to close the transaction by 31 March 2022.”
The transaction is still subject to regulatory approvals including from the National Telecom Regulatory Authority of Egypt (NTRA) and Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority.
In South Africa, Vodacom invested a further R2,3-billion in the network during the quarter. It currently services 45,7-million customers in South Africa, an increase of 3,3% in a year.