JSE-listed Vodacom on Tuesday reported strong momentum during the first quarter of the year, with normalised group revenue and service revenue having increased by 5% and 5.2% to R21.5-billion and R17.8-billion respectively.

During the quarter ended June 30, the group reported its results on an International Financial Reporting Standard 15 (IFRS 15) basis, whereas the results for the corresponding quarter in 2017 are reported on an International Accounting Standard 18 basis.

Comparatively, on the IFRS 15 basis, Vodacom reported a 4.2% increase in group service revenue to R16.7-billion and group revenue to R20.6-billion for the quarter under review.

“The strong momentum from our yearly [financial] results has carried Vodacom into a pleasing first quarter,” said Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub in a trading update to shareholders.

In South Africa, despite a tougher economic environment, service revenue expanded by 4.9% to R13.7-billion on a normalised basis and to R12.7-billion on a reported basis.

International service revenue increased by 4.1% to R4.27-billion, with normalised growth of 8.3% to R4.29-billion.

Vodacom added 2.5-million customers over the quarter, reaching 76.5-million across the group, up 10.3% year-on-year, excluding newly acquired Safaricom.

Some 1.5-million customers were added in South Africa, equating to a customer growth of 9.5% to reach 43.1-million customers, while nearly one-million customers were added to the International operations during the quarter under review, bringing total International subscribers to 33.4-million.

“We are encouraged by the improved performance in our International business. We will continue to strengthen our customer value proposition across all operations as a leading digital company.

“We remain focused on network investment as a key competitive differentiator, expanding our fourth-generation coverage to 81.5% up from 75.9% a year ago,” said Joosub.