Business / Companies
Econet revenue fall by 17.7%
15 Oct 2015 at 10:01hrs | Views
Revenue for the period under review closed at $323 million, a 17.7% decline from prior year. Overlay services revenue, however, grew by 29.1%. Earnings Before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation and Amortisation (Ebitda) decreased from $155.0 million to $122.5 million, a decrease of 21%. The Ebitda margin declined by 1.6% to close at 37.9%.
The Group has continued making debt repayments, and to accumulate profits from trading, as a result of which its debt to equity ratio has improved from 35.1 % to 33.2%.
Of note is Steward Bank's turnaround from a negative Ebitda of $ 3.9 million in the prior year to the current positive Ebitda of $3.2 million. Its profit after taxation for the period amounted to $1.9 million compared to a loss after taxation of $3.7 million for the prior period. This turnaround in the bank's performance is mainly as a result of maximising synergies as well as the cost reduction initiatives.
To cater for growing data demands in line with global developments, Econet indicated that it is constantly modernising and improving its technical infrastructure. Its network modernisation program aims to create a full Internet Protocol core network and an agile radio network that can support further expansion of our existing 2G, 3G and 4G/LTE capability whilst laying a solid foundation for future technologies such as 5G and Internet of Things. A simplified network architecture will reduce capital expenditure and generate operating expenditure efficiencies.
With a subscriber base that has grown to 4.9 million and over 21 000 registered agents over a 4 year period since its introduction on 28 September 2011, EcoCash is now amongst the leading mobile money service providers on the continent. To further strengthen its innovative footprint in the mobile money transfer sector, EcoCash has, through its remittance partners, opened up a wide network of international remittance channels. It is now possible for the diaspora community in South Africa to send money directly from their host country mobile phones to mobile phones in Zimbabwe. These innovations help to harness capital flows into the country.
The Group has continued making debt repayments, and to accumulate profits from trading, as a result of which its debt to equity ratio has improved from 35.1 % to 33.2%.
Of note is Steward Bank's turnaround from a negative Ebitda of $ 3.9 million in the prior year to the current positive Ebitda of $3.2 million. Its profit after taxation for the period amounted to $1.9 million compared to a loss after taxation of $3.7 million for the prior period. This turnaround in the bank's performance is mainly as a result of maximising synergies as well as the cost reduction initiatives.
To cater for growing data demands in line with global developments, Econet indicated that it is constantly modernising and improving its technical infrastructure. Its network modernisation program aims to create a full Internet Protocol core network and an agile radio network that can support further expansion of our existing 2G, 3G and 4G/LTE capability whilst laying a solid foundation for future technologies such as 5G and Internet of Things. A simplified network architecture will reduce capital expenditure and generate operating expenditure efficiencies.
With a subscriber base that has grown to 4.9 million and over 21 000 registered agents over a 4 year period since its introduction on 28 September 2011, EcoCash is now amongst the leading mobile money service providers on the continent. To further strengthen its innovative footprint in the mobile money transfer sector, EcoCash has, through its remittance partners, opened up a wide network of international remittance channels. It is now possible for the diaspora community in South Africa to send money directly from their host country mobile phones to mobile phones in Zimbabwe. These innovations help to harness capital flows into the country.
Source - Byo24News
