Safaricom has posted strong half-year results, reporting a sharp rise in profits and steady progress in Ethiopia, where its young operation is showing signs of maturity despite tough economic conditions.
Group CEO Peter Ndegwa announced on Thursday that Safaricom’s net income jumped 52.1% to Sh42.8 billion in the first half of the year, while service revenue climbed 11.1% to nearly Sh200 billion.
The impressive results, he said, reflect the company’s resilience and the success of its strategy under the new vision 2030 roadmap.
“We continue to see strong financial growth, despite some headwinds,” Ndegwa said.“This demonstrates resilience and growth across all business units.”
In Kenya, Safaricom maintained its dominance, growing service revenue by 9.3% to Sh194 billion. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose 13.1% to Sh89.5 billion, while net income grew 22.6% to Sh58.2 billion.
“We are very pleased with this outcome for the Kenya performance,” Ndegwa said, acknowledging the team’s effort to sustain growth in a competitive and evolving market.
Beyond Kenya, the spotlight was on Safaricom Ethiopia, the company’s boldest expansion venture since its founding. Though still navigating pricing and currency reform challenges, the subsidiary has made what Ndegwa called “notable commercial progress.”
In just two and a half years since launching operations, Safaricom Ethiopia has attracted over 10 million active customers and built nearly 3,300 network sites, a feat that now gives it almost half the network capacity of Safaricom Kenya.
“This accomplishment underscores our commitment to supporting Ethiopia’s digital transformation through inclusive and high-quality mobile connectivity,” Ndegwa said.
Ethiopia’s performance also showed encouraging financial trends. Losses dropped 20.1% year-on-year to Sh15.5 billion, signaling that the operation is on the path toward stability. Still, currency depreciation has taken a toll.
“The Birr’s decline against major currencies, particularly the US dollar and Euro, contributed about a third of Ethiopia’s net losses,” he noted.
At the group level, earnings before interest and tax jumped 54.5% to Sh65.2 billion, marking one of Safaricom’s strongest half-year performances in recent years.
“As we can imagine, we are very pleased by these strong results in the first half of our Vision 2030 strategy,” Ndegwa said. “We have grown our network, strengthened our customer base, and demonstrated that our strategy is working.”
With Safaricom Kenya continuing to deliver solid returns and the Ethiopian venture gaining traction, Ndegwa said the company is looking ahead with confidence. “It’s a great start, and this is only the beginning,” he said.
