Vodacom revenue rises 25.6% as Safaricom strengthens financial-services drive

Vodacom has reported strong interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2026, with revenue rising 25.6% year on year to R102.5 billion.

The pan-African technology group said the consolidation of Safaricom, East Africa’s biggest telco, supported the performance and strengthened its strategy of expanding beyond traditional mobile connectivity into financial services.

Vodacom increased its shareholding in Safaricom to 55% and began consolidating the company as a subsidiary from 30 June. Safaricom’s M-Pesa mobile-money platform forms a major part of the combined financial-services ecosystem.

Financial services expand

Vodacom said financial-services revenue increased 99% to R15.9 billion during the reported half-year. The figure includes Safaricom’s contribution for only one quarter. On a pro-forma basis, including Safaricom in the comparative period, financial-services revenue growth was 19.2%.

Over the previous 12 months, Vodacom and Safaricom generated combined pro-forma financial-services revenue of R43.1 billion. Their platforms served 108 million financial-services customers, while more than $575.5 billion in transaction value was accessed and initiated through them during the same period.

Financial services, fixed connectivity, digital and internet-of-things services now account for 27.4% of Vodacom’s service revenue. The company has raised its 2030 target for these activities from 30% to more than 32% of service revenue.

“The combination of Vodacom and Safaricom creates one of the continent’s largest FinTech platforms,” said Shameel Joosub, Vodacom’s chief executive officer.

Vodacom said the combined platform could support the expansion of formal financial services. The source material also identifies potential applications for M-Pesa beyond payments, including savings, investments, credit and other digital financial products.

Growth across operating markets

Egypt recorded service-revenue growth of 36.3% in local currency, while Safaricom reported service-revenue growth of 13.1%.

Vodacom’s international business recorded normalised service-revenue growth of 13.7%, with EBITDA increasing 15.9%. In South Africa, the group’s prepaid business returned to growth, supported by increased data consumption.

Cost optimisation lifted Vodacom’s South African EBITDA margin to 37.4%. The company did not provide a broader breakdown of the contribution from other international markets in the supplied results.

Vodacom added 26 million customers over the past 12 months, taking its total customer base to 250 million across Africa.

Earnings, investment and dividend

Headline earnings per share rose 25.7% to 587 cents, while headline earnings increased 25.6% to R11.3 billion.

The company invested R13.3 billion in capital expenditure during the six-month period, an increase of 41%. It also declared an interim dividend of 355 cents per share, up 7.6%.

Joosub said the company had exceeded its medium-term growth target for service revenue, EBITDA and operating free cash flow while reaching the milestone of serving a quarter of a billion customers across Africa.

He added that Vodacom was on track to exceed its medium-term growth targets as it pursued its Vision 2030 ambitions.