Media statement - Vodacom Group Limited trading update for the quarter ended 31 December 2017

Salient features

• Group revenue up 6.7% to R22.6 billion and service revenue up 5.5% to R18.4 billion
• We added 2.5 million Group active customers during the quarter, 1.6 million in South Africa and 0.9 million in our International operations, to now reach 73.6 million active customers across the Group, up 13.0% year on year
• Group data revenue¹ increased 9.7% to R6.6 billion, International data revenue up 19.5%
• South Africa service revenue grew 4.9% to R14.1 billion, supported by strong customer gains and data revenue growth
• International service revenue increased 8.7% (+8.1%*) to R4.6 billion; a third consecutive quarter of accelerating growth

Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO commented:

Our strategy of sustained investment into our network and improving customer experience has delivered solid gains in customer numbers in South Africa, and driven growth in our International operations, resulting in stronger growth in Group revenue of 6.7%.

In South Africa, our customer base grew 14.4% to 41.6 million, contributing to the 6.2% increase in revenue, underpinned by a resilient pre-paid voice market and a highly successful summer campaign.

During the quarter we delivered on our promise to reduce out-of-bundle data prices, evidence of our commitment to reduce the cost-to-communicate through our pricing transformation journey; this resulted in a 24.2% decline in effective data prices for the year. In order to compensate for the expected shortfall in revenue, we have undertaken a range of initiatives to stimulate usage. Monthly trends towards the end of the quarter show that this is having the desired effect.

Driven by strong customer growth, a solid performance from M-Pesa and sustained demand for data, our International operations continue to gain momentum. Data revenue grew 19.5%, supported by our strategy to increase smartphone penetration through improved device affordability. Further new services contributed to a 33.3% jump in revenue from the M-Pesa mobile money platform. Growth was further supported by an 11% increase in customers, resulting in revenue from International increasing by 9.3%, a third consecutive quarter of accelerating growth.

On the regulatory front in South Africa, we will be submitting a detailed response to the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) regarding its proposed amendments to the Electronic Communications Act. We remain of the opinion that a hybrid between what is currently in place and the proposed Wholesale Open Access Network (WOAN) addresses the government’s transformation mandate and will have a greater impact on driving down the cost to communicate for customers compared with the proposed amendments to the Electronic Communications Act (ECA).

*Normalised growth adjusted at a constant currency using the current year as the base. Refer to page 11 for a reconciliation of adjustments.
All growth rates quoted are year-on-year growth rates and refer to the quarter ended 31 December 2017 compared to the quarter ended 31 December 2016, unless stated otherwise.
Results for Vodacom’s associate investment in Safaricom are disclosed on a bi-annual basis and therefore are not included in this quarterly update.
The quarterly information has not been audited or reviewed by Vodacom’s external auditors.
¹ Mobile data revenue and M-Pesa revenue were previously reported in aggregate. These items are now separately disclosed.