Telkom Mobile added nearly three million customers to its subscriber base in the year ended 31 March 2025. This was despite a difficult operating environment.
Total mobile subscribers are now 23.2-million after having breached the 20 million mark in the 2024 financial year.
Subscriber growth led to an 8.3% year-on-year improvement in total revenue to R24.4-billion, with service revenue up 10.2% to R21-billion over the same period.
“The mobile business continues to be the star of the consumer business,” Telkom Group CEO Serame Taukobong said at an investor presentation in Sandton on Tuesday.
“This was driven by strong subscriber growth coinciding with maintaining Arpu (average revenue per user) at R60. Ebitda margin has also expanded significantly. It has been a strong performance by the team,” Taukobong told investors at the presentation, referring to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation – a measure of the operating performance of the business that’s frequently quoted by telecommunications operators.
Telkom’s total mobile subscriber base grew by 13.4% at a blended average revenue per user (Arpu) of R78. Telkom said the growth was underpinned by “strategic customer acquisition initiatives” and sustained value extraction in its existing base.
Prepaid strong
Most of Telkom Mobile’s new subscribers were acquired in prepaid, which now sits at 20.2 million customers with Arpu of R60, down from R65 the year before. Telkom attributed the decline in Arpu to growth in non-metro regions “that attract lower Arpu but increased volumes”.
“This underscores our effective market penetration strategies, dynamic pricing models and ability to maximise revenue per user while sustaining volume growth,” said Telkom.
Read: Telkom resumes dividend payout as earnings jump
Telkom’s mobile Ebitda surged 30.3% to R6.5-billion, while Ebitda margin increased by 4.5 percentage points to 26.7%. Telkom attributed the increase in Ebitda to the rise in service revenue in combination with “prudent” cost management.
Another factor impacting the improved performance in mobile has been the decreased frequency of load shedding, which Telkom said had “minimal impact” on its cost base compared to the prior year.
Meanwhile, Telkom’s data-first strategy continues to be a driver of subscriber growth.
“Our mobile data subscriber base expanded by 19.5% to 15.2 million and now comprises 65.7% of our total mobile subscriber base. This was fuelled by surging demand for seamless connectivity and value-optimised plans that resonate with our target market. Mobile data revenue increased by 12.3% to R16.1-billion,” said Telkom.
Data traffic surged 24% year-on-year to 1 759 petabytes and Telkom committed R2.8-billion to expanding its mobile network in light of its subscriber growth. Telkom Mobile has 7 909 network tower sites across South Africa.
Solid performance
Overall, Telkom Group reported 3.3% year-on-year growth in revenue to R44-billion with a 91% increase in profit for the year at R2.8-billion. Solid underlying performance was supported by the sale of the Swiftnet masts and towers business.
An annual dividend of R2.61/share (including a once-off special dividend of 98c/share) was declared. Telkom shares were up 6.5% in early morning trading on Tuesday at R42.62. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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