JSE-listed Vodacom Group on Monday said it has had a strong start to its Vision 2030 strategy, after delivering double-digit earnings growth for the year ended March 31.

During the year under review, the group’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased 14.2% on a normalised basis, and 12.8% on a reported basis, to R62.63-billion, with its Ebitda margin increasing 0.9 percentage points to 37.4%.

This was ahead of Vodacom’s Ebitda medium-term target, with a double-digit outlook confirmed, said Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub.

Vodacom Group’s headline earnings a share increased 22.9% to 1 053c in the year ended March 31, from 857c in the prior year, amid strong results from Egypt, the International business and Safaricom translated, while earnings a share increased 24.4% to 1 069c, from 859c, during the same period.

Operating profit rose 21.8% on a normalised basis, and 23.2% on a reported basis, to R44.11-billion.

Group revenue also recorded double-digit growth during the year under review, expanding 12.2% on a normalised basis, and 10.1% on a reported basis to R167.65-billion.

The group’s service revenue increased 12.9% on a normalised basis, and 10.6% on reported basis, to R133.56-billion, ahead of its double-digit medium‑term target.

This was supported by financial services revenue growth of 19.6% to R16.8-billion, which contributed 12.6% to group service revenue, as well as strong performances in Egypt, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Lesotho, and resilience in South Africa and Mozambique.

“Our diversified portfolio continues to demonstrate resilience across geographies,” he continued, pointing to Egypt’s “impressive performance”, with local-currency service revenue and Ebitda growth of 36.2% and 44.5% respectively, contributing 29.7% to group Ebitda.

The International business delivered service revenue growth of 14.4% on a normalised basis, with double-digit local currency growth across Tanzania, DRC and Lesotho. In rands, the International business’ Ebitda was up 27.8%.

South Africa delivered a stable performance, with service revenue growth of 2.1%, supported by an improving prepaid trend in the fourth quarter, strong data demand and continued growth in beyond mobile services.

South Africa Ebitda returned to growth in the second half of the financial year, having been impacted by a one-off settlement agreement in the first half of the financial year.

“Safaricom delivered an excellent performance with shilling service revenue growth of 11.5%, Ebitda growth of 27.9%, and net income up 37.0%,” Joosub commented, noting that Safaricom contributed R4.6-billion to Group operating profit, an increase of 38.3%.

“This result was underpinned by sustained operational excellence in Kenya and improving scale in Ethiopia. We were encouraged by Ethiopia’s performance, with customer growth of 54.2% to 13.6-million and losses narrowing as the business continues to scale.”

Consistent with Vodacom Group’s dividend policy of paying out at least 75% of headline earnings, the company declared a final dividend of 405c a share, up 20.9%, bringing the total dividend for the year to 735c a share, an increase of 18.5% from the prior year.

Meanwhile, Vodacom Group now serves a combined 237.3-million customers, after a 12.3% increase in subscribers.

“In the 2026 financial year, we added 26-million customers across the group, more than double our yearly Vision 2030 target of 10-million customers, taking our total customer base to 237.3-million across eight markets.

“This scale is driving greater connectivity, productivity and financial inclusion, and underpins our decision to increase our Vision 2030 customer ambition to 275-million, reflecting confidence that the growth opportunity remains far from fully realised,” Joosub explained.

During the year under review, financial services customers, including Safaricom on a 100% basis, increased 17.4% to 103-million, supported by growth across payments, insurance, savings, lending and merchant services.

“Reflecting the strength of this momentum and the scale of opportunity ahead we have upgraded our Vision 2030 ambition for financial services customers to 130-million, from 120-million previously.”

The transaction values processed reached $525.6-billion in the year, up 16.6%.

Beyond mobile services, which includes financial services, fixed, digital and Internet of Things, generated R29.8-billion, contributing 22.3% of group service revenue and demonstrating steady progress towards Vodacom Group’s ambition of approaching 30% by 2030.

“We made tangible progress on delivering on our strategy in the year, marked by two milestone transactions that strengthen our long-term growth profile and accelerates inclusive connectivity across our footprint,” Joosub continued, referring to the Safaricom and Maziv transactions that are expected to materially enhance the group’s beyond mobile positioning.

In December, Vodacom Group announced an agreement to acquire an additional 20% stake in Safaricom. The closing of this transaction is subject to an ongoing court process in Kenya.

“The group’s fibre footprint will extend to 3.6-million homes passed, strengthening our connectivity leadership and long‑term growth potential, when the Safaricom transaction completes.”

Separately, in December, Vodacom Group also finalised the acquisition of a strategic stake in South African fibre business Maziv, which unlocks the opportunity to accelerate fibre deployment and expand access to high-quality connectivity, particularly in historically underserved communities.

“Delivering sustainable shareholder value beyond these transactions is critically important to us.”

Vodacom Group invested R23.6-billion in capital expenditure for the 2026 financial year, to support rising data demand, enhance network and customer experience and enable scalable digital inclusion.

Across the group, including Safaricom, Vodacom rolled out 3 041 new 4G and 6 160 new 5G sites.

“We added 18.8-million smartphones during the year, lifting smartphone penetration across the group to 68.6%, supported by continued progress in handset affordability innovations. Across many of our markets, the challenge is increasingly one of device access rather than coverage, and we remain focused on addressing this responsibly,” he concluded.