Safaricom will pay an interim dividend of Sh0.58 per share or Sh23.42 billion to shareholders, a 9.4 percent drop on lower earnings in the six months to September 2022.
The telco paid Sh0.64 per share a year earlier, equivalent to Sh25.64 billion.
The interim dividend will be payable by March 31 to shareholders on its register as at the close of business on March 15.
Safaricom’s half-year net profit to September fell by 10 percent to Sh33.5 billion on the combination of cuts to the mobile termination rate and costs related to the Ethiopian expansion.
The operator’s total cost in the period was up by a third to Sh31 billion as Safaricom injected billions in capital into its new subsidiary in Addis Ababa, wiping out a marginal 4.6 percent growth in total revenue to Sh153.4 billion.
The growth in revenues included an 8.7 percent rise in M-Pesa revenues to Sh56.9 billion, while data nettings were up 11.3 percent to Sh26.3 billion.
The National Treasury is expected to receive the lion’s share of the interim dividend or Sh8.2 billion, based on its 35 percent stake in the telco.
Vodacom South Africa and UK's Vodafone will share Sh9.4 billion on their combined stake of 40 percent in the company.
In 2021, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) pushed the operator into splitting its dividend payouts, given the pressure exerted by hard currency dividend payments to foreign investors.
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