M-Pesa deposits down Sh1.3 million in six months to September
Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said the performance remains strong amid the headwinds in the Ethiopian business.
Safaricom's money transfer and payment service M-Pesa has reported a Sh1.3 million decline in deposits for the six months ending September 30, 2024.
The telco in its H1 financial put the total mobile financial deposit at Sh262 million, down from the March record of Sh263.3 million, representing a 0.5 per cent decline.
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Although the county's leading telco did not give reasons for the decline, the figure could be signalling a shift in user behaviour amidst changing economic conditions.
Compared to the corresponding period, the previous year, the record is a further decline of Sh12 million, picturing the continuing downward trend which reiterates the potential shifts in consumer confidence or changing preferences.
The service, however, recorded a 16.6 per cent revenue growth year-on-year, to Sh77.22 billion, driven by 13.1 per cent (YoY) growth in Average revenue per user (ARPU) to Sh389.27.
Chargeable transactions per one-month active customers increased by 25.6 per cent YoY to 37.37 while one-month active customers grew by 4.1 per cent to 33.46 million while M-Pesa agents rose by 2.4 per cent YoY to 266.07k.
Overall, the telco reported Sh28.1 billion in net profit in the period under review.
The record is, however, a 17.7 per cent fall from Sh34.1 billion, attributed to the depreciation of the Ethiopian currency, the birr.
The telco took a Sh17.5 billion hit after the birr depreciated by 52 per cent over the period under review.
Safaricom's underlying business, including its Kenyan operations, however, offset the decline from the currency hit, with service revenues rising 13 per cent to Sh177.5 billion in the six months.
Commenting on the results, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said the performance remains strong amid the headwinds in the Ethiopian business.
"This performance reflects the relentless execution of our strategy. We are proud of the value that we have given our customers through use of technology, and we will continue growing our core business while expanding into new services through our innovative spirit," Ndegwa said.
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