Telkom, now South Africa’s third largest mobile operator, has reported a jump in mobile data revenue. For the six months ending on 30 September 2024, mobile data revenue increased by 12.7%, while fibre data service revenue rose by 15.5%.
The former reflects the continued success of Telkom’s mobile strategy, which saw it overtake Cell C and move into second place in this segment in recent years, while the latter underlines the effectiveness of leveraging its fibre grid.
“The results demonstrates robust and steady underlying operational performance, delivering sustainable financial returns while positioning the company as the backbone of South Africa’s digital future,” said Telkom in its results statement.
“The results reflect Telkom’s successful execution of its data-led strategy, resulting in group revenue growing by 1.9% to R21.4-billion, primarily driven by exceptional performance in data services.”
Profit in the form of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) increased by 18.3% to R5.6-billion, with the margin improving to 26.2% – 3.6% up on the prior period.
The profit excludes a restructuring cost of R16-million and a Telkom Retirement Fund derecognition loss of R618-million,
The half-year performance has seen a significant strengthening in the balance sheet. Free cash flow turned positive at R768-million, compared to negative R478-million in the previous period. Interest-bearing debt reduced by R885-million.
Group CEO Serame Taukobong said: “Our continued investment in our extensive fibre network and mobile infrastructure is now delivering the competitive advantage we anticipated, propelling our data-led strategy to ensure future-readiness.”
Operational results include:
- Mobile subscribers exceeded 22.7-million, growing by 24.6% year-on-year.
- Mobile data subscribers increased by 19.6% to 14.6-million and associated data revenues increased by 12.7%.
- Homes passed by Openserve’s fibre infrastructure and connected grew by 11.4% and 18.1%, respectively. It maintained a 49.7% home connection rate.
Group chief financial officer Nonkululeko Dlamini said: “Our improved cash generation and strengthened balance sheet position us well to continue investing for future growth while maintaining financial discipline.
“We continued with smart capital spend of R2.5bn invested in infrastructure, which is at the heart of our strategy. The capital intensity ratio of 11.9% remains efficient and in line with our forecast of 12-15%.”