Kenya's telecommunications firm Safaricom has announced a 27.1 per cent net profit rise to Ksh48.4 billion ($470 million) in the year to March 2017.

The net income includes a one-off adjustment of Ksh3.3 billion ($32 million) -- which Safaricom said was a write-back of a legal cost provision that had not materialised.

Total revenue crossed the $2 billion mark for the first time to stand at Ksh212.9 billion ($2.07 billion), an 8.8 per cent rise.

The revenue growth is backed by a strong performance in mobile money transfer service M-Pesa and data while traditional services like voice remained resilient.

M-Pesa revenues grew from Ksh41.5 billion ($403 million) to Ksh55.08 billion ($535 million) while data revenues grew by 38.6 per cent to Ksh29.29 billion ($284 million).

Voice service (incoming and outgoing) revenue rose by 2.9 per cent to Ksh93.5 billion ($908 million) while SMS revenue declined by 3.7 per cent to Ksh16.7 billion ($162 million).

The Safaricom board has recommended a dividend of Ksh0.97 ($0.01) per share – an increase of 27.5 per cent from the previous year.

The proposed dividend payout amounts to Ksh38.86 billion ($372 million), which represents 80 per cent of Safaricom's net profit for the year.

CEO's tenure

The board also announced extension of the chief executive Bob Collymore’s contract for another two years.

His contract was set to expire in August. Mr Collymore was first appointed in 2010.

Safaricom chairman Nicholas Ng’ang’a said the Board “is happy that Mr Collymore has successfully navigated the company through difficult times.”

Key results highlights

• Service revenue up 14.8 per cent to Ksh204.1 billion ($1.98 billion).
• Total customer base increased by 11.8 per cent to 28.1 million.
• Voice service (incoming and outgoing) revenue rose by 2.9 per cent to Ksh93.5 billion ($908 million).
• SMS revenue declined by 3.7 per cent to Ksh16.7 billion ($162 million).
• M-Pesa revenue increased by 32.7 per cent to Ksh55.1 billion ($535 million).
• 30-day active M-Pesa customers increased by 14.6 per cent to 19.0 million.
• Mobile data revenue grew by 38.5 per cent to Ksh29.29 billion ($284 million).
• 30-day active mobile data customers increased by 18.1 per cent increase to 16.6 million.
• Fixed service revenue growth of 37.4 per cent to Ksh5.2 billion ($50 million).