WASHINGTON: Vodacom Group’s revenue increased by 1.5 percent to ZAR 81.28 billion for the year ended 31 March from ZAR 80.07 billion in previous year. Normalised for the effects of foreign currency translation, this growth was 3.4 percent. Service revenue rose by 2.3 percent to ZAR 68.29 billion from ZAR 66.76 billion in 2016. International operations’ service revenue declined 5.6 percent but on a normalised basis, this figure was up 2.2 percent. It was affected by currency volatility and customer registration.
Group data revenue was up 16.4 percent, supported by Vodacom’s strategy of data network investment and device migration. EBITDA grew 2.9 percent to ZAR 31.24 billion, up 7.1 percent excluding foreign currency translation impacts, with margins improving by 0.5 percent to 38.4 percent. Capital expenditure was ZAR 11.29 billion, with the focus on data expansion and information technology. Headline earnings per share (HEPS) were up 4.5 percent to 923 cents per share. The final dividend per share was ZAR 4.35, taking the total dividend to ZAR 8.30 per share for the year. Operating profit increased 3.3 percent to ZAR 21.75 billion with strong growth from the South Africa segment.
