Kenyan telecom operator Safaricom PLC has reported a 55% rise in half-year profit, supported by strong performance in its domestic market and reduced losses in Ethiopia.

The company posted an operating profit of USD 505.6 million for the six months ending September 2025, and maintained its full year guidance. Group service revenue rose to USD 1.55 billion, up from USD 1.39 billion in the same period last year.

Safaricom’s Kenyan business remained the main profit driver, while losses from its Ethiopian unit declined by 59% compared with the same period a year earlier. The previous year’s performance had been affected by the depreciation of the Ethiopian Birr.

Safaricom began operating in Ethiopia in 2022, when the government opened the telecom sector to foreign investors. The company sees the market, Africa’s second most populous country, as a key source of future growth.

Revenue from M-Pesa, Safaricom’s mobile financial service, increased to USD 683 million from USD 598 million a year earlier, highlighting continued demand for mobile payment services.

Safaricom is partly owned by South Africa’s Vodacom Group and Britain’s Vodafone Group.

Source: Reuters