COMPANY RESULTS – Vodacom reports 6.4% drop in full-year profit

GUEST – Shameel Joosub, the Vodacom Group CEO<br /> <br /> Vodacom has announced a 17.2% increase in Group service revenue (up 7.2% excluding Vodafone Egypt) and a net profit of 2.1% in its preliminary annual results for the financial year that ended on 31 March 2023, despite the economic impact of load shedding. Shameel Joosub, the Vodacom Group CEO, said that load shedding, start-up losses in Ethiopia, the costs of mergers and acquisitions – such as the Vodacom Egypt acquisition for R43.6 billion – and higher inflation across its markets affected the net profit growth of 2.1%. In South Africa, the overall operating profit dropped by 1.2% due to higher depreciation and amortisation <a href="http://www.kayafm.co.za/">Kaya FM </a>