JOHANNESBURG, July 19 (Reuters) – Vodacom, the
South African unit of British mobile operator Vodafone,
has reported a 9.3 percent rise in first-quarter revenue, buoyed
by growth in data and customers.
Vodacom said on Thursday revenue totalled just over 17
billion rand ($2.1 billion)in the quarter to end-June.
Vodacom, which has operations in South Africa, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Mozambique and Lesotho, said its
customer numbers totalled 50 million at the end of June,
compared with 47.8 million at the end of March.
“I am particularly pleased with the sustained high growth
delivered by the International operations. Data demand in this
segment is accelerating, with active data customers increasing
152 percent and data revenue up 150 percent,” chief executive
Pieter Uys said.
Group data revenue was up almost 17 percent.
Although Vodacom has the largest subscriber base in South
Africa, it is dwarfed on the continent by MTN Group.
Vodacom and its rivals are fighting to extract more revenue
from data as the market for mobile voice usage stagnates.
The company said this month that Uys would step down in
March, to be replaced by Shameel Joosub, a Vodacom veteran who
is currently head of Vodafone’s Spanish unit.
Vodacom shares are up 2 percent this year, compared with a 4
percent rise in the benchmark Top-40 index.
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