Rand holds Vodacom back on data battlefield
Lower growth figures expected as rest of Africa takes the hit
Amid data price wars, a volatile rand and increasing competition in the rest of the continent, analysts are expecting a mixed set of figures from Vodacom when it presents its results tomorrow for the six months ended in September. Group revenue growth is expected to remain in the mid single digits, with headline earnings per share growth closer to 10%. This is up from the low 2.7% growth in the full-year results to end-March, which was affected by the remeasurement of foreign currency-denominated intergroup loans as well as one-off BEE charges. "The higher earnings growth compared to revenue growth will be driven by cost control as well as the non-recurrence of some one-off charges included in headline earnings last year," Peter Takaendesa, a portfolio manager at Mergence, said on Thursday. "We expect Vodacom's South African operations to continue to show a steady performance but the rest-of-Africa operations will be affected by a stronger rand relative to currencies of those other ...
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