NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 27 – Safaricom will pay an interim dividend of Sh23.42 billion or Sh0.58 per share to shareholders.
The dividend will be Sh2.18 billion lower than last year’s Sh25.6 billion for the year ending March 31 2023.
The firm says it will pay the interim dividend on or about March 31.
“The Board of Safaricom PLC is pleased to announce that at its meeting that was held on 24th February 2023, I was resolved to approve the payment of an interim dividend of Kshs.0.58 per ordinary share held amounting to Kshs.23.42 billion, for the year ending March 31 2023,” Safaricom said in a statement.
“The interim dividend will be payable to shareholders on the Register of Members as at the close of business on 15th March 2024 and will be paid on or about 31st March 2023,” it added.
In November last year, the telco posted a Sh7 billion drop in profit after tax in the six months to September 30, weighed down by inflation, newly introduced taxes, currency depreciation and Ukraine-Russia war.
The telco’s net profit dropped from Sh37.1 billion in the six month to September 30 2021, to Sh30.2 billion in the same period this year.
Revenue was boosted by service revenue that grew 4.6 per cent to Sh144.8 billion, supported by M-Pesa, mobile data, and fixed data growth.
Mobile data revenue grew by 11.3 per cent to Sh26.30 billion while M-PESA revenue rose by 8.7 per cent to Sh56.86 Billion.
However, voice service revenue dropped by 3.8 per cent to Sh39.88billion.
