Econet Wireless Zimbabwe might as well be on its way to becoming a billion-dollar revenue business after it reported $600 million dollars in the topline in the half year to August 31 2018, up from $ 353 million in the same period last year.
The blue-chip company’s 70% increase in revenue was boosted by its $248 million SmarTech revenue growth, which jumped by 145% from $101 million in the same period last year. MNO (or telco) revenue from data, voice and SMS grew by 40% to $353 million, up from $252 million in results that management credited to its TMT (telecom, media and technology) model, and that it ascribed to EWZL’s ability to sweat all its assets – both MNO and SmarTech.
This was borne out by the fact that EWZL’s traditional telco products bucked the industry trend and all showed double digit growth, with data revenue contribution growing by 57% to $98,3 million, and the voice and SMS revenue going up by 34% to $218 million.
The results, announced at an analyst briefing in Harare last Thursday, showed the company achieved a half-year EBITDA of $252 million, 82% more than the $139 million reported in August 2017, and a reduced capital expenditure of $20 million, nearly a third of what it spent in the same period last year.
Now the largest listed company on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) by market capitalisation, the company reported a 181% surge in earnings per share (EPS) of 6,0 cents, from 2,1 cents in August 2017. This was from $122 million profit after tax.
The half-year results come at a time EWZL has published a Circular to Shareholders announcing plans to separately list its SmarTech assets on the ZSE. The de-merged entities will operate separately but remain interdependent while pursuing the group’s proven TMT multi-sectoral model.
Speaking at the presentation of the results, EWZL CEO Douglas Mboweni said Econet had built a solid business case based on a unique TMT model to create future-proof, stakeholder value.
“Through relentless innovation and the ability to leverage technology to meet consumer needs, the company has successfully created a digital ecosystem through which its MNO and SmarTech assets create customer value in diverse industries and market segments, which include mobile financial services, insurance, transport and logistics, education, heath, and many others,” Mboweni said, adding that the Cassava SmarTech spin off would unlock significant shareholder value, because, “the sum of the parts are always greater than the whole”.
Cassava CEO Eddie Chibi said the results demonstrated the evident potential and growth prospects that lie within the technology-driven smartech brands, saying Cassava would work to empower people and use innovation to take stakeholder value-creation to a whole new level.
“We will focus on using innovative and inclusive digital solutions to create shareholder and customer value, even as we drive socio-economic development and improve the overall quality of life for all Zimbabweans,” Chibi said.
He said Cassava would leverage big data and the group’s digital ecosystem to exploit opportunities for the company’s FinTech, InsureTech, AgricTech, EduTech, HealthTech, E-Commerce, On-Demand Services, Media and Social Payments business units.
Finance Director Roy Chimanikire, attributed the company’s solid triple digit growth to the strategic decisions it made to diversify, grow and invest in new revenue streams while successfully managing to grow traditional revenue streams such as voice and SMS through a strong customer focus.
