Shameel Joosub
Photo by: Duane Daws
JSE-listed telecommunications group Vodacom on Thursday reported a 3% year-on-year rise in group revenue during the quarter to the end of June on the back of increasing data take-up and expanding international operations.
The group generated revenue of R17.5-billion during the three months under review, up from the R17-billion recorded during the corresponding three months of 2012.
Revenue generated from the South African operations increased 3.9% from R14-billion in the June quarter last year, to R14.54-billion in the 2013 June quarter.
Data revenue from South Africa recorded a 21.8% year-on-year rise, to R2.5-billion, while voice revenue contracted 2.5% to R7-billion.
Active data customers in South Africa totalled 14.4-million, up 16.5% from a year ago.
Vodacom’s international operations, which included Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Lesotho, collectively reported a 1% year-on-year revenue decline to R3.1-billion, Vodacom group CEO Shameel Joosub said.
Vodacom noted that the international segment recorded 13.6% normalised growth.
“Data and the international operations remain key parts of the growth story,” Joosub noted.
The international operations generated data revenue of R421-million – an 87.1% year-on-year increase – supported by a 49% jump in active data customers to 4.9-million.
By the June quarter, the group had 51.5-million customers, with South Africa recording a year-on-year contraction of 2.3% to 29.3-million.
The international segment added 17.3% customers during the quarter, bringing the number of international subscribers to 22.3-million, compared with the 18.9-million customers recorded in June 2012.