Vodacom Group Ltd

F:5VD

Revenue Growth: Vodacom Group's revenue rose 16% to ZAR119.2 billion, helped by the Vodafone Egypt acquisition and currency tailwinds. Excluding Egypt, revenue grew 8%.

EBITDA & Profit: Group EBITDA increased 13.2% to ZAR45.1 billion. Headline earnings per share fell 6.4% to ZAR9.48, mainly due to higher finance costs and start-up losses in Ethiopia.

Dividend Policy: The board declared a final dividend of ZAR3.30 per share, totaling ZAR6.70 for the year—aligned with a new policy to pay out at least 75% of headline earnings.

Upgraded Guidance: Vodacom raised its medium-term service revenue and EBITDA growth outlook to high single digits, driven by new services and the integration of Vodafone Egypt.

Energy & Capex: Vodacom invested ZAR4 billion over four years in energy resilience, maintaining network availability above 90% despite South Africa's power crisis.

Financial Services Expansion: Vodacom now serves 71 million financial services customers, with half of international M-Pesa revenue growth coming from new products.

Safaricom Ethiopia: Safaricom Ethiopia surpassed 2.1 million customers; peak losses expected in FY2024 with break-even targeted for FY2026.

Device Financing & Inclusion: Vodacom aims to accelerate smartphone penetration using third-party device financing, targeting the 60% of its base without smartphones.