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A Telkom shop at Eastgate Mall in eastern Johannesburg. Picture: FREDDY MAVUNDA.
A Telkom shop at Eastgate Mall in eastern Johannesburg. Picture: FREDDY MAVUNDA.

Telkom has reinstated its ordinary dividend after a four-year suspension and has also declared a special dividend from the cash proceeds from the disposal of Swiftnet, its masts and towers business.

The group concluded the disposal of Swiftnet during the year and received proceeds of R6.618bn.

Telkom reported that adjusted earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) rose by 25.1% to R11.79bn in the year to end-March.

The group adjusted ebitda margin expanded by 4.7 percentage points to 26.9% due to cost-optimisation initiatives, it said on Tuesday.

Headline earnings per share
(HEPS) rose 44.8% to 544.5c. HEPS from continuing operations were up 62.3% to 467.5c.

A final dividend of 163.05c per share was declared along with a special dividend of 97.82c, taking the total dividend to 260.87c per share.

Group revenue was up 3.3% to R43.88bn due to strong growth in mobile service revenue, which rose 10.2%, and fibre-related data revenue, which was 10% higher. Profit for the year surged to R7.5bn from R1.88bn a year ago.

“Telkom’s strategic vision is translating into exceptional results, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to strengthening our position as the digital backbone of SA. Our data-centric strategy continues to be the key driver, enabling us to deliver a sustained, impressive performance,” said CEO Serame Taukobong.

“While group data revenue performance remained strong, the group’s ebitda and cash flow growth were fuelled by a combination of successful strategies,” he said.

“Mobile and fibre service revenue growth across the group, along with effective cost efficiency programmes, improved group adjusted ebitda by 25.1% and drove a 19.3% year-on-year increase in cash flow from underlying operations.”

Maintaining a strong balance sheet remains a priority and the group aims to sustain the positive free cash flow momentum established to date.

“Leveraging our current momentum, we are setting ambitious yet achievable objectives for the next three years,” the group said.

The group plans to drive top-line revenue growth across all businesses to exceed inflation and projects annual revenue growth in the mid-single digits.

mackenziej@arena.africa

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