Safaricom has raised its interim dividend payout by 54.5 percent, nearly matching its half-year profit growth in a move that will see the government pocket Sh11.92 billion ahead of its partial divestiture from the telco.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm announced it will pay an interim dividend of Sh0.85 per share, up from Sh0.55 per share it had paid in the last two financial years.
“The Board of Safaricom Plc is pleased to announce that at its meeting held on 4th February 2026, it was resolved to approve the payment of an interim dividend of Sh0.85 per ordinary share for the year ending 31st March 2026,” said the telco in a public notice.
“The interim dividend will be payable to shareholders on the register of members as at the close of business on 25th February 2026 and will be paid on or about 31st March 2026."
The announcement follows the company booking a 52.1 percent net profit growth to Sh42.7 billion in the half year ended September, buoyed by double digit growth of the financial services platform M-Pesa.
Safaricom will pay an aggregate interim dividend of Sh34.05 billion to its shareholders, with the government taking Sh11.92 billion for its 35 percent stake.
The government signed an agreement to sell a 15 percent in the company to Vodacom Group in a deal that will also see the National Treasury receive an advance dividend of Sh40.2 billion, representing a discount of Sh15.5 billion on a total stream of future payouts of Sh55.7 billion it would be entitled to on its residual stake of 20 percent.
The spike in interim dividend signals a rise in the total payout for the current financial year, with the company having maintained a distribution of Sh1.2 per share in the previous three years.
The Sh34.05 billion interim pay is equivalent to 70.8 percent last year’s total payout of Sh48.08 billion, signaling higher pay for this financial year, which ends March 2026 and results set for release in early May.
Safaricom has a policy of paying 80 percent of its net profits as dividends and it has committed to continue with this payout ratio despite substantial growth in borrowings.
The jump in dividends confirms Vodacom's earlier estimate that it will recoup the advance dividend to be paid to the government within two or three years.
"So...we actually fully expect it to be paid down in just over two years," Shaun Biljon, the group financial controller at Vodacom, said in December 2025.
Safaricom’s share price rallied to highs of Sh32.5 in Thursday's trading session, approaching the Sh34 per share at which the government is selling its six billion shares to Vodacom.
