For the year ended March 31, the part-privatized Johannesburg-based telco reported a net income of ZAR 1.63bn ($204.1m), compared with ZAR 1.22bn ($152.8m), on revenues of ZAR 37.6bn ($4.72bn), up from ZAR 34.2bn ($4.27bn) for 2002. The figures include a ZAR 213m ($26.6m) charge relating to the IPO expenditure, when in early March it raised ZAR 3.9bn ($490m) from its initial public offering.
Telkom SA warned that fixed-line telephone usage was adversely affected by increased customer substitution into mobile telephones. Among poor South Africans, there is an increased preference for prepaid mobile telephones. This has led to a heavy rate of fixed-line disconnections due to nonpayment in the last few years, but Telkom SA has been balancing this trend by its investment in Vodacom and by introducing prepaid services.
Fixed line operating revenue rose 5.8%, mainly due to the growth in data transmission, but mobile revenue increased 27.5% primarily because of new customers.
Based on total revenue and assets, the company is the largest communications services provider on the African continent. Its crown jewel is the 50% it owns in mobile operator Vodacom (Pty) Ltd, which accounted for 22% of group operating revenue. Vodacom dominates the local mobile phone market with a 57% market share. The South African mobile phone market is said to be the biggest on the African continent with 12 million subscribers. It also has investments in Lesotho, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Source: Computerwire
