Telecommunications group Vodacom on Tuesday reported a double-digit growth in revenue during the third quarter of the year on the back of its Vodafone Egypt acquisition and rand depreciation against its basket of international currencies.

Group revenue increased 14.8% to R30.7-billion during the three months to December 31, 2022.

“The third quarter of our current financial year is the first set of results that includes revenues from what we expect will be a transformative transaction for the group – our acquisition of a 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt,” says Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub.

“In December last year we announced the finalisation of the R43.6-billion deal, the largest in Vodacom Group’s history, and one that cements our position as a leading pan-African technology company in addition to diversifying and accelerating our growth profile.”

On a normalised basis, Vodacom posted a 4.7% increase in group revenue, which, stripping out currency fluctuations and the impact of Vodafone Egypt’s acquisition, underscores the ongoing resilience of the group’s portfolio at a time when economic uncertainty prevails in the face of the war in Ukraine and the supply chain impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, he continues.

Group service revenue grew 16.1% during the quarter under review to R24-billion, supported by growth in data revenue and financial services, with Vodafone Egypt, which was consolidated from December 8, contributing over R1.8-billion.

On a normalised basis, Vodacom’s service revenue increased 3.5%.

South Africa’s service revenue expanded 3% to R15.39-billion, owing to a strong performance in mobile prepaid revenue, which accelerated to 3.7% quarter-on-quarter, despite macro challenges associated with higher inflation and power availability.

Vodacom’s International service revenue increased 18% to R7-billion – 4.5% on a normalised basis – driven by data revenue growth and a weaker rand and supported by continued focus on financial inclusion and accelerated capital expenditure.

The reported growth was underpinned by a 33.6% increase in M-Pesa revenue and a 32.5% rise in data revenue.

Meanwhile, Vodacom’s financial services revenue increased 30.6% to R2.6-billion, owing mostly to demand for services on an evolving M-Pesa platform across the company’s international portfolio, as well as double-digit growth in insurance policy and Airtime Advance sales in South Africa.

Financial services remains the fastest growing contributor to the group’s suite of new services.

“In aggregate, our new services, which include digital and financial, fixed and Internet of Things amounted to R4.7-billion and contributed 19.7% of group service revenue, up from 17.7% in the prior-year period,” Joosub comments.