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Divisional performance
continued
International operations
Year ended 31 March
% change
2016
2015
15/16
Service revenue (Rm)
17 763
15 291
16.2
Revenue (Rm)
18 356
15 747
16.6
EBITDA (Rm)
5 385
4 104
31.2
EBIT (Rm)
2 296
1 756
30.8
Data revenue (Rm)
4 019
3 046
31.9
Capital expenditure (Rm)
4 090
4 654
(12.1)
Active customers
1
(thousand)
27 127
29 533
(8.1)
Active data customers
2
(thousand)
10 055
9 878
1.8
At a glance
Service revenue in our International operations, which account
for 26.6% of Group service revenue, increased by 16.2% (9.6%*)
with growth in all markets. We are particularly proud of
Vodacom Lesotho having now achieved revenue of over
R1 billion. The International operations continue to benefit from
increased voice revenue of 14.0%, as well as 31.9% growth in
data revenue driven by continued network investment.
Mobile data revenue now comprises 22.6% (2015:19.9%) of
International service revenue.
Active customers decreased 8.1% to 27.1 million, largely
due to the customer registration requirements in the DRC and
Mozambique. In the DRC, the government ordered all
unregistered customers to be disconnected in December 2015.
Vodacom has suspended customers with no registration records
and communicated to such customers the requirement to
register to avoid disconnection. In Mozambique, there has been
a phased suspension since November 2015 and a disconnection
programme for unregistered customers agreed by the
government and operators.
Mobile data revenue grew 31.9%, (excluding M-Pesa, 42.2%)
supported by an increase of 73.1% in data traffic and 1.8%
in active data customers to 10.1 million (also impacted by
customer registration requirements), reflecting strong demand
for mobile data services in all our markets. We continue to focus
on our commercial and network offering to drive data growth,
ensuring customers have access to better low cost smart
devices, such as Vodacom Kicka and SmartTab, expanding 3G
and LTE/4G network coverage and driving the adoption of
data bundles.
M-Pesa revenue continues to grow strongly at 19.3%, fuelled
by expansion of the distribution channel and a growing
ecosystem. We added 1.2 million customers, increasing the
number of active customers to 9.2 million, an increase of
15.4% from the prior year. In Tanzania, M-Pawa (savings and
loan product) is gaining traction with 1.6 million customers
actively using the service.
Enterprise service revenue (including mobile) grew 31.1%.
Fixed-line and business managed services grew at 18.5%,
and contributed 53.0% to Group fixed-line and business
managed services.
EBITDA grew 31.2% (29.9%*) to R5 385 million, contributing
17.7% to Group EBITDA. EBITDA margin increased from
26.1% to 29.3%, with margin improvement across all
operations. EBITDA was positively impacted by stronger
service revenue, as well as cost efficiency initiatives of
R705 million, partly offset by significant currency devaluation
in Tanzania and Mozambique.
Capital expenditure of R4 090 million represents 22.3% of
revenue. We continue to invest significantly in all our markets
to strengthen network and service differentiation. To support
the significant data growth and wider voice coverage, we
added 54 LTE/4G, 869 3G and 930 2G sites during the year.
The Lesotho service licence was renewed for another
20 years, expiring in 2036. In the DRC, we secured a ten year
renewal of our existing spectrum until January 2028, as well
as the allocation of additional spectrum in the 1 800MHz
and 1 900MHz band.
Vodacom Group Limited
Integrated report for the year ended 31 March 2016
50