Vodacom sales rise as data growth soars in Africa

Vodacom said first-quarter revenue increased 7% as data sales from international operations helped ease pressure on growth in its domestic market.

Sales rose to R19.6 billion in the three months through June, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Thursday. Data revenue increased 35% to R4.8 billion.

story_article_left1

“We invested another R2.4 billion in the network this quarter,” Chief Executive Officer Shameel Joosub said in the statement. This increased data traffic growth in South Africa and even more so in the international operations, he said.

Vodacom, which is 65% owned by Newbury, England- based Vodafone, is expanding in sub-Saharan Africa to counter regulatory pressure on sales growth in South Africa, where it’s the market leader in terms of subscriber numbers. The company got anti-trust approval to acquire Internet provider Neotel Pty Ltd. last month as it seeks to offer new services in the country while adding small-to-medium sized business customers.

Vodacom’s active customer numbers rose 6.5% to 63.5 million across the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique and Tanzania as well as its home market. South Africa sales gained 5.5% while revenue from the other markets increased 14%.

- Bloomberg