M-Pesa business could power GDP

Jay456watt · 2018-05-11T17:00:51+00:00

Global oil markets have been roiled by the widely telegraphed withdrawal of the US from the Iran Nuclear Deal. Price of Brent Crude traded fresh 2014 highs of $77.00 a barrel. Emerging markets have been getting creamed. Turkish President is hosting an emergency meeting at his palace as the Turkish Lira crashed to fresh all time lows. Argentina raised interest rates to 40% but have dialled up Madam Lagarde as President Lungu of Zambia will be doing momentarily. There is every indication that the benign environment with lashings of cheap money have now been terminated. The IMF said the following about one-third of Sub-Saharan African countries have declining per capita incomes. @IMFnews Six countries - Chad, Eritrea, Mozambique, Congo Republic, South Sudan and Zimbabwe - were judged to be in debt distress at the end of last year. The IMF’s ratings for Zambia and Ethiopia were changed from moderate to “high risk of debt distress.” Foreign currency debt increased by 40 percent from 2010-13 to 2017 and now accounts for about 60 per cent of the region’s total public debt on average, IMF data showed. Average interest payments, meanwhile, increased from four percent of expenditures in 2013 to 12 percent in 2017. Thats the background to the biggest NSE Earnings release of the Year, which was of course Safaricom [about 42.5% of the Total value of the NSE] who reported pre-market opening this morning. The backdrop for this earnings release was the slowest rate of GDP increase in 6 years in 2017, a drought, a credit crunch and not one but two Elections and then of course the Resist-related Boycott. I have been attending these Earnings Releases for a decade and it was good to catch up with Michael Joseph [and we reminisced about when he launched M-Pesa and today its making more than any Kenyan Bank] and many others. I interviewed the Acting CEO Sateesh Kamath. It was also a pleasure to hear Bob Collymore speak to the Audience from London. Safaricom reported a +10.0% gain in FY service revenue which clocked 224.54b, FY Profit before tax increased +13.1% to 79.1b and FY Profit after Tax increased +14.1% to 55.3b,which translated into +14.05% gain in FY EPS and a FY dividend increase of +13.4%. Free Cash Flow exploded +27.304% higher to register 55.39b. Breaking down the revenue streams, FY Voice Revenue grew +2.333% to 95.46b, M-PESA Revenue accelerated 14.216% to 62.91b. "Mpesa has been a growth engine. Whenever there’s a cash transaction, we see an opportunity. Transaction value in 2017 doubled'' - Sateesh. FY Mobile Data revenue surged +23.969% to clock 36.36b [Data usage per customer grew from 269 MB per customer to 421 MB]. It really is an Information Century and I expect the Mobile Data Curve to continue its stellar Trajectory. Full Year Total Customers increased +5.1% to 29.57m and if any one is a beneficiary of the demographic dividend it is Safaricom. Safaricom rallied +2.654% to close at 29.00 and traded 17.881m shares worth 520.779m. In a turbulent World, Safaricom is a ''must-have'' stock. Sateesh closed out the Briefing by raising FY 2019 Guidance by between 7%-12%. I expect the Economy to pick up momentum in 2018 and Safaricom with it.

Thread starter Jay456watt
Start date May 11, 2018

Jay456watt

JF-Expert Member

May 11, 2018

Hamster255

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M-Pesa business could power GDP

Jay456watt

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Hamster255

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