JSE-listed Vodacom’s year-on-year performance has been sustained in the first quarter of the new financial year.

While quarter-on-quarter growth declined, the telecommunications giant on Thursday posted year-on-year group service revenue growth of 7.3% to R16.8-billion for the three months to June 30.

“Our strong performance last year has continued into the first quarter of our new financial year and is reflective of the successful execution of our well-planned strategy. Despite the tougher economic environment in most of the countries in which we operate, the group delivered robust service revenue growth of 7.3%,” said Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub.

The company’s South African operations posted service revenue growth of 5.6% to R12.4-billion in the quarter under review, while the international service revenue came in at 13.5% higher year-on-year at R4.47-billion.

Overall revenue was up 5.8% to R19.9-billion, with South Africa-based revenue up 4% to R15.4-billion and the international operations’ revenue up 12.8% to R4.6-billion.

A 19.4% hike in Vodacom’s data revenue was also recorded, reaching R5.78-billion and representing 34.4% of service revenue.

Meanwhile, active customer numbers declined 2.6% to 61.8-million, with new customer registration processes in the international markets resulting in a 11.5% decrease in active customers to 26.7-million during the June quarter.

This was somewhat offset by strong subscriber gains in the South African operations, where the addition of nearly one-million new customers represented 5.4% growth to 35.1-million customers.

“We remain committed to actively bedding down new customer registration processes in the various markets in which we operate,” Joosub commented.

Group capital expenditure for the three-month period under review was R2.7-billion – R1.9-billion in South Africa and R809-million in the international operations – equivalent to 13.6% of group revenue.