Safaricom profit jumps 11% to $540 million as Ethiopian unit losses fall

Safaricom grew its 2024 full-year profit by  11% to $540 million (KES 69.8 billion), lifted by easing losses in Ethiopia and steady growth in its mobile data and mobile money services at home. The results mark a return to growth for Kenya’s biggest telecoms operator after two years of earnings pressure linked to its costly push into Ethiopia.

Safaricom’s service revenue rose by 10% year-on-year to $2.8 billion (KES 371.4 billion) in the year to March, as customer numbers across the business jumped 16% to 57.1 million. Safaricom said growth was driven by increased mobile data usage, voice, and M-Pesa, which remains central to its revenue mix.

The company’s main profit engine remained the Kenyan unit, accounting for most earnings. Losses from the Ethiopian unit halved to $165.7 million (KES 21.4 billion) as the company added more subscribers and ramped up its mobile money, M-PESA, rollout.

“We are pleased with our performance in FY25 despite the various challenges that faced the operating environment, including economic disruptions, slowdown in GDP growth, and the impact of foreign exchange regime reforms in Ethiopia,” Safaricom said in a statement.

Safaricom continues channelling investment into its Ethiopian subsidiary, building network infrastructure, and scaling M-Pesa following the mobile money platform’s launch in August 2023.

“The baby, Ethiopia, is making more confident steps. It actually contributed 9% to group service revenue,” Safaricom chief financial officer Dilip Pal said.

The Ethiopian unit remains in an early growth phase, but Safaricom is looking at the improving unit economics and rising subscriber numbers as encouraging signs.

Ndegwa said the company expects to further narrow its Ethiopia losses to between $178.1 million (KES 23 billion) and $201.3 million (KES 26 billion) in the current financial year, compared to $472.4 million (KES 61 billion) in the year just ended. Its earnings before interest and taxes could rise 50% to $1.16 billion (KES 150 billion) in the year to the end of March 2026.