Vodacom Group has announced strong interim results for the six months ending September 2025, driven by sustained revenue growth, a recovery in its international operations, and favorable macroeconomic conditions in its markets.
The group’s service revenue rose by 13.6% on a normalized basis to R65.8 billion, surpassing its medium-term goal of achieving double-digit growth. Earnings also saw a significant increase, with headline earnings per share rising 32.3% to R4.67. As a result, the board has declared an interim dividend of R3.30 per share, consistent with its policy of distributing at least 75% of headline earnings.
These results reflect Vodacom’s successful diversification beyond its core mobile business. Contributions from financial services, digital services, fixed connectivity, and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions accounted for 21.8% of total service revenue, bringing the company closer to its Vision 2030 target of exceeding 30%. The financial services segment now boasts 93.7 million customers, while the group serves a total of 223.2 million customers across its various markets.
Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO commented
The encouraging revenue trend highlighted in the Vodacom Group’s performance in the first three months of the financial year continued into the second quarter. This has contributed to a strong set of interim results while at the same time underscoring the resilience and agility of our business. In terms of delivering on our bold Vision 2030 ambitions, it means that we’re off to an ideal start in a half-year period characterised by a more stable macroeconomic and currency backdrop.
We delivered robust growth – evidenced by the normalised 13.6% increase in Group service revenue to R65.8 billion which is tracking above our medium-term target of double-digit growth. Beyond mobile – including financial and digital services, fixed and IoT – contributed 21.8% of Group service revenue, moving us closer to our Vision 2030 target of exceeding 30%. Headline earnings per share grew 32.3% to 467 cents per share (cps), enabling the Board to declare an interim dividend of 330cps, which is consistent with the Group’s dividend policy of paying at least 75% of headline earnings. Factoring in our diversified portfolio and disciplined execution, these results showcase the underlying health of the business, which have supported an improved return on capital and a healthy balance sheet.
Our ambition is to grow our customer base to over 260 million and our financial services customers to 120 million by FY2030, while delivering double-digit EBITDA growth. The fact that we’ve expanded our customer base to 223.2 million and now serve 93.7 million financial services customers, shows that we are well on track to deliver on targets that reflect our relentless focus on digital and financial inclusion. Our Vision 2030 strategy includes the ambition to differentiate ourselves with a superior customer experience, whereby we are committed to earning customer loyalty by delivering meaningful value and a seamless digital experience. Integral to this are the sustained investments we make into technology and our networks, which amounted to R9.4 billion in the past six months, with a plan to spend R23 billion across our markets in the current financial year. Including Safaricom, we have added 1 881 4G and 3 524 5G sites year-to-date.
As a purpose-led company, Vodacom is committed to connecting for a better future. Our initiatives seek to empower communities, support youth with digital skills, and bridge the digital divide in underserved regions, while protecting the planet and maintaining trust. Recent efforts to drive inclusion incorporates scaling programmes to upskill the next generation for careers in science and technology, in addition to partnering across our markets to expand rural and fibre network coverage.
A prime example is the strategic infrastructure sharing partnership signed with Airtel Africa in August in key markets including Mozambique, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), subject to regulatory approvals in the various countries. By leveraging existing infrastructure, the collaboration aims to deliver improved connectivity, faster internet speeds, and more reliable services. This will not only enhance customer experience but also assist with providing access to digital services for a broader population, particularly those in underserved areas, helping to bridge the digital divide in Africa. This complements the agreement concluded with Orange earlier in the year to form a first of its kind rural towerco partnership that will see the partners collaborating to build, own, and operate solar-powered mobile base stations in underserved areas of DRC.
In times of crisis, such as the floods in South Africa in June, Vodacom stepped up to support affected communities, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to making a meaningful impact where it matters most. We’re also immensely proud of becoming the first company to fully operationalise virtual wheeling, launched in September 2025, that marks a significant step forward in South Africa’s energy transformation journey, removing long-standing barriers to access renewable energy. Our purpose continues to guide our strategy and actions, ensuring we deliver sustainable value for all our stakeholders.
Regional highlights for this period include Egypt’s exceptional 42.3%* local currency service revenue growth, a stable performance in South Africa and a strong recovery from our International business.
Egypt produced yet another stellar performance that is largely all-encompassing with service revenue of R17.6 billion now contributing 26.8% to the Group total. This was supported by a strong summer campaign, a 5.9% increase in Egypt’s customer base to 51.1 million, NPS leadership, data traffic growth of 21.9% and the rapid adoption of Vodafone Cash. In June, we launched 5G services in Egypt, leveraging existing investment into 5G ready sites. As we roll-out this technology, we expect this will help sustain Egypt’s growth in the foreseeable future.
In South Africa, service revenue grew 2.2% to R31.7 billion, underpinned by the contract segment, beyond mobile services and our R54.1 billion investment in network resilience over the past five years. This investment, in addition to increased smartphone penetration and new prepaid LTE offerings, will have contributed to a data traffic increase of 31.1% during the period under review. Our acquisition of a 30% stake in Maziv is in the final approval phase, and we are confident this transaction will enable us to accelerate network expansion, help address the cost to communicate and contribute meaningfully to job creation in South Africa. Separately, the Please Call Me matter has been settled by the parties out of court. Both parties are glad that finality has been reached in this regard.
Our International business – comprising DRC, Lesotho, Mozambique and Tanzania – reported service revenue growth of 13.3%* to R16.7 billion, with customer numbers increasing by 13.6% to 63.7 million. Double-digit growth in DRC, Lesotho and Tanzania was supported by strong momentum in M-Pesa and data services while we’re seeing improved commercial traction in Mozambique. What is particularly encouraging is that all four markets produced accelerated growth rates in the second quarter.
Safaricom delivered an excellent performance on the back of another strong performance in Kenya and is continuing to scale in Ethiopia. Safaricom service revenue increased 11.1%, supported by growth in Kenya of 9.3% and growth in Ethiopia of 179.1%. In Kenya, M-Pesa revenue grew 14.0% on the back of heightened platform engagement and a 13.3% increase in customers. Over the past twelve months, the volume of M-Pesa transactions in Kenya has risen an impressive 22.0% to 39.8 billion. In Ethiopia, losses at our greenfield operation continue to moderate while the business scales with customer numbers reaching 11.1 million, up 83.7%. Safaricom reported net income growth of 52.1%.
M-Pesa remains Africa’s largest mobile money platform, processing over US$476.8 billion in transaction value over the year, including Safaricom. Vodacom Group financial services revenue grew 20.3% to R8.0 billion, now accounting for 12.2% of Group service revenue, while Safaricom M-Pesa reached R12.2 billion. These results highlight the growing demand for payments, savings, lending, and merchant solutions across our footprint.
As we look ahead, while mindful of the global economic volatility, I am confident that our diversified portfolio, best-in-class digital and financial ecosystem, and purpose-led approach positions us well to capture the structural growth opportunity that Africa represents. Vision 2030 will see us accelerate our impact – empowering people, protecting the planet, and maintaining trust – while delivering sustainable value for shareholders, customers, and the societies we serve.