Credit: REUTERS/NOOR KHAMIS Adds details
NAIROBI, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Kenya’s biggest telecoms operator, Safaricom SCOM.NR, expects core earnings to drop by at least 10% in the year to the end of next March, hurt by the impact of the coronavirus crisis, it said on Monday.
The firm, which is part owned by Britain’s Vodafone VOD.L and South Africa’s Vodacom VODJ.J, posted a 4.8% decline in its service revenue for the first half to 118.41 billion shillings ($1.09 billion).
The drop was driven by drops in revenue from its mobile financial services, M-Pesa, and from voice calls.
Revenue from provision of internet services increased, but they were not enough to offset the drop in M-Pesa revenue and voice calls, the company told an online investor briefing.
($1 = 108.9000 Kenyan shillings)
(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; editing by Richard Pullin and Kim Coghill)
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