Safaricom has launched “M-PESA Kadogo” allowing users who send anything below ($1) KSHs 100 and below to send money for free.
According to the firm, this move will empower the mama mbogas, the small and the micro agents who form the company’s network.This move is also expected to raise the firm’s revenues especially from M-Pesa.
Safaricom saw 30.8% growth with EBITDA to Kshs 50.8bn with a margin of 49.8%. The firm’s net income increased by 32.4% to Kshs 23.9bn. Free cash flow of up 111.6% to 20.1bn.
Safaricom’s M-Pesa revenue recorded a growth of 33.7% to ksh 25.9bn driven by 12.2% increase in 30 day active Mpesa customers to 17.6m and a 38.4% growth monthly usage per customer to 9.3 transactions per month. The cashless platform Lipa Na M-Pesa has been received well among enterprises and significantly contributed to the increase in m-pesa margins.
Mobile data has also been another key driver of the businesses net income which accounts for 13.7% of the service revenue , grew at a 46.3% to kshs 13.4b. This was mostly driven by 30 day data customers to 14.9m, increased bundle users and smartphone penetration.
Safaricom accounts this growth to improving their network quality with efforts to increase network coverage and capacity to ensure excellent performance and superior customer experience.
The businesses good results has continued to create value for the shareholders supported by growth across all their revenue streams and cost efficiency. As a result, there is an underlying EBITDA margin of 46.5% being a 2.8ppt improvement over the same period in the last financial year.
During the six months under review, free cash flow grew by 111.6% to ksh 20.1bn improved trading results and completion of the National police security(NPS) Net Project.
Among the priority strategies of safaricom is continue to create value for their stakeholders through putting the needs of their customers first, providing relevant products and enhancing excellence in their operations.They will improve the customers experience through initiatives such as expanding the capacity of the call center,increase the numbers of 3G and 4G network through launching more 4G(LTE) sites and offering affordable smart devices.
