Safaricom PLC, East Africa’s most valuable company by market capitalization, has reported its results for the half year period ended 30th September 2025. Group-wide service revenue was up by 11.1% YoY to KES 199.9 billion, while half-year total revenues crossed the KES 200 billion mark for the first time to reach KES 204.7 billion , representing a growth of 8.1% year-on-year. A key milestone in the operating period is mobile data revenue eclipsed voice revenue for the first time, with data revenue closing at KES 44.45 billion, up 18.2% from KES 37.6 billion in HY 25, while voice revenue closed HY 26 at KES 41.09 billion which was a marginal 0.5% growth from the KES 40.9 billion recorded in HY 25.
Group EBIT was KES 65.2 billion, up 54.5%, and pre-tax profit amounted to KES 55.2 billion which represented a growth of 63%. Profit after tax attributable to equity holders of the parent was KES 42.78 billion, up 52.1%, and when adjusted for a KES 13.6 billion net loss (contracted 25% YoY) attributable to non-controlling interests, the crude group net profit was KES 29.2 billion, up 191.5% YoY.
Safaricom Kenya Anchors Group-wide Growth in Mobile Payments, Data, Voice
Service revenue from Safaricom Kenya was up by single digits at 9.3% YoY to reach KES 194 billion, and the connectivity business contributed the bulk to service revenue at KES 96.2 billion. This was a growth of 5.3% relative to the same period in the previous year, with the contribution to service revenue at 49.6% (HY 25: 51.5%). M-PESA, Safaricom’s flagship mobile money product, brought in KES 88.1 billion, a growth of 14.0% compared to HY 2025 to account for 45.4% (HY 25: 43.5%) of service revenue. The Fixed service & the Internet of Things (IoT) segment reported KES 9.8 billion in revenue, representing a growth of 9.5% YoY and accounted for 5.0% (HY 25: 5.0%) of service revenue.
Across mobile payments, consumer payments constituted the bulk (40.6%) of M-PESA revenue at KES 35.7 billion, a growth of 19.4% compared to HY 25. Business payments followed closely at KES 27 billion, registering a growth of 18.8% YoY, and this segment accounted for 30.7% of M-PESA revenue. Cumulatively, consumer and business payments accounted for more than 70% of M-PESA revenue in the operating period. The nascent global payments segment recorded 17.3% YoY growth to KES 2.2B to account for 2.5% of M-PESA revenue. The M-PESA platform processed 21.9 billion transactions in the half year period, marking a 26.5% YoY growth from HY 25, with chargeable transactions standing at 8.7 billion to account for 39.7% of the processed transactions.
The non-chargeable transactions closed the period at 13.2 billion or 60.3% of the total transactions processed. In terms of growth comparison, the non-chargeable transactions volume grew faster at 31.2% YoY as compared to the 20.1% growth registered by the chargeable transactions. Value-wise, M-PESA transactions processed KES 20.2 trillion (Kenya’s GDP stands at KES 18 trillion) in HY 26, up 5.0% YoY, out of which KES 5.5 trillion or 27.4% was non-chargeable and 14.7% was chargeable. In contrast to the growth registered in the volume of M-PESA chargeable transactions, the non-chargeable transaction value declined 10.8% YoY while chargeable transaction value edged higher by 17.3% YoY.
Data Revenue Underpins Safaricom Ethiopia Revenue
90-day active customers grew by 83.7% to reach 11.15 million while the 30-day active customer base grew by 90% YoY to reach 8.51 million. Service revenue for the half year period was up by more than 2X to KES 6.2 billion on the back of robust momentum in customer acquisition and increased usage across the customer base. Mobile data was the key revenue generating line in the market, accounting for 66.7% of revenue reported, or KES 4.13 billion, fueled by growth in subscribers, stronger customer usage and more penetration of smartphones in the market. The Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for this segment was KES 119.01, and usage of data per subscriber recorded a 2.4% growth YoY to 6.72 GB.
Voice revenue accounted for 22.1% of service revenue, with the segment bringing in KES 1.37B, more than 4X from HY 25 on account of growth in the customer base and overall growth in customer activity. The ARPU for this segment grew double digit by 14.7% to KES 34.51. Revenue from messaging was up 3X to KES 74.15 million on the back of growth in active SMS users who grew by 82.4% YoY to 5.74 million.
The Fixed service and wholesale transit revenue was up by 4X to KES 93 million on account of growth in connections. In the period under review, M-PESA in Ethiopia transacted KES 11.74 billion across 84.74 million transactions representing a growth of 7.3% and a decline of 2.0%, YoY, respectively, across both categories. M-PESA revenue aggregated to KES 8.7 Million which was a decline of 45.6% relative to HY 25.
The ETB depreciated relative to the US Dollar by 16.9% and the Euro by 33%, impacting the results. The reported EBITDA, EBIT and Net Loss for the period under review was -KES 12.5B, -KES 20.2B and -KES 13.3B, and when adjusted for Birr depreciation, the numbers stood at -KES 4.9B, -KES 12.7B and -KES 8.7B, respectively.
Safaricom Share Price Reaction
As at market close in the day’s trading session, the share price was KES 30.30, reflecting a 1.34% gain from the previous trading session. 16.7 million shares were traded across 593 deals with a gross turnover of KES 506 million. The firm’s market capitalization was KES 1.21 trillion, constituting about 39.8% of the KES 3.04 trillion market capitalization of all the equities trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
Also Read: CMA Approves Four New Licenses in bid to Deepen Kenya’s Capital Markets
