Mobile phone company Vodacom said on Monday that its revenue grew by 6,3 percent to R86,4 billion and it added seven million customers in the year to March.
Headline earnings per share remained constant at 923 cents per share, and the company declared a final dividend per share of 425 cents.
Vodacom's sustained investment in customer and network experience across its operations was a major factor in attracting an additional 4,5 million customers in South Africa and 2,5 million internationally, group CEO Shameel Joosub said.
Despite a tougher economic environment in South Africa, big data-led innovations contributed to robust demand for personalised bundles and a 4,9 percent growth in service revenue.
Strong device sales, cost optimisation measures and the effective execution of Vodacom's pricing transformation programme also played a major role in the sound commercial performance in its largest market.
"Our accelerated rural coverage programme was instrumental in Vodacom becoming the continent's first operator to reach 80 percent population coverage on a 4G network," Joosub said.
The company said it was encouraged by the renewed economic and political stability in South Africa and larger international operations, including Kenya, but warned that unexpected volatility in political environment, economic growth, currency and regulatory uncertainty continued to pose a risk.
– African News Agency
