Econet Wireless Zimbabwe saw its revenue and profit after tax increasing in the six months ended August 31, 2017 buoyed by the growing contribution of non-voice products as the company’s converged telecoms, media and technology (TMT) model begins reaping dividends.
BY BUSINESS REPORTER
Revenue was up 17% to $353 million and profit increased to $49 million.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose by 31% to $139 million from $106 million recorded in the same period last year.
Econet managed to reduce its finance costs during the reported period by $10,7 million after repaying its dollar-denominated debt with the funds raised from its $130 million rights offer which was concluded in the first half of the year.
The company attributed the increased revenue to a decline in interest costs, as well as bold cost optimisation initiatives that positively impacted profit after tax.
Data revenue grew by 9% to $63,4 million from $52,8 million in the comparable period last year in line with the rapid growth in data usage and increased smartphone penetration.
Mobile financial transacting service EcoCash’s revenues rose by 45% to $57,1 million from $39,2 million. Data, EcoCash and other non-voice products now constitute 63% of the company’s total revenues.
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Econet Wireless Zimbabwe CEO Douglas Mboweni saluted the company’s customers for their loyal and continued support, while attributing the strong performance to continued innovation within the business, and a culture of excellence in execution among the company’s dedicated staff.
“At the core of our success is the enormous support from our customers, without whom we would not be here today. As a business we continue to find innovative technological solutions to address our customers’ needs and day-to-day challenges” he said.
“Our focus is to use technology to transform, in a deep, meaningful and fundamental way, how our customers transact and do business, and to provide convenience through technology.”
In the outlook, Mboweni said the group would continue to strive to deliver more value to customers through tailormade product offers, as well as market segmentation and product bundling across all the three pillars of the TMT model.
